Description

LEOMINSTER

SO4959 BROAD STREET
808-1/1/74 (East side)
31/08/89 Building in yard to rear of Nos.40
and 42
(Formerly Listed as:
BROAD STREET
Building in yard to rear of No.40)

GV II*

Possibly built as lodgings or guest house, later stables, now
outbuildings and stores. Late C15/early C16 with later
alterations. Timber-frame and weatherboarding with some brick
infill; corrugated-iron roof, with plain tiles to rear pitch.
3 bays, possibly originally extending to the north. Further
later range to left, and C17 range to north-west.
2 storeys; various openings and entrances, with passageway to
left. Queen strut truss in gable. Projecting timbers beyond
bay 3 may indicate position of stair cell.
INTERIOR: bay 3 is open on ground floor and all 3 bays on
upper floor divided to provide separate rooms, access to which
was from a gallery and open walkway on the west side. An inner
wall-frame encloses them on this face and the upper rooms were
additionally enclosed from the roof by a ceiling which spanned
from a central beam to the E and inner W wall plate. The
mortice slots for the floor beams and jowelled heads of the
supporting central stud survive in each truss. On the ground
floor, bay 2 widened by a close-studded partition which
encroaches into bay 3 by approx 1m.
E wall-frame close-studded at ground floor and is randomly
framed with square panels on upper floor. Each upper-floor
room had a window overlooking the garden, of which one
survives in W wall-frame of bay 3. Bay 3 has door-head to
gallery.
The open wall-frame of W elevation consists on first floor of
worn balcony rail close-studded between it and the girding
beam, on ground floor of chamfered posts on stone plinths,
each post braced to the girding beam. 4 trusses, 2 of which
collared below upper purlins, 2 are simple raking struts from
tie-beams to principals. Both internal trusses had closed
partitions but no sign of inner framing on first floor to
either of the 2 outer trusses. It is unlikely that such large
openings could have been infilled with wattle and daub panels
and there is no sign of stave holes, so building was either
originally extended by bay at each end or built alongside
other structures now gone. Surviving timbers projecting beyond
bay 3 may indicate position of a stair.
Good quality timber-frame with all main members intact and
largely in good condition. Remarkable for its 1st-floor
external gallery, extending across full west front. Original
purpose of building unknown, but a range of a medieval
courtyard inn or guest house for nearby Leominster Priory (qv)
have been suggested. The rooms are unheated, so permanent
lodgings seem unlikely, but a commercial use is possible,
although some distance from street frontage.
May be survival of a rare medieval building type.
(RCHME: Herefordshire: 120 (55)).

Listing NGR: SO4963659254

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17538000

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)