Bishop Lloyd's House
Bishop Lloyd's House or Bishop Lloyd's Palace is the house at 41 Watergate Street, and 51/53 Watergate Row in Chester , Cheshire , England. The building is classified as Grade I and was rated by Nikolaus Pevsner as "perhaps the best" house in Chester.
The house is built on two stone vaulted cellars from the Middle Ages with an overlying half-timbered construction. The first floor includes a section of the Chester Rows . The house is now used by stores and the headquarters of the Chester Civic Trust.
history
The house has its origins in two town houses on medieval vaults. These two houses were converted into one in the 17th century. The converted house broke with the medieval tradition that the main living room was a large hall on the ground floor; instead, the main residence of its residents was now in two elegant rooms on the floor above. The house was owned by George Lloyd , who was Bishop of Chester from 1605 to 1615. It was run down in the 19th century and the carvings on its front were hidden under plaster. The house was now divided into several apartments and was shabby. In the 1890s the house was largely restored to its former condition by Thomas Lockwood ; the current appearance of both the facade and the interior of the building is largely based on its renovation. Lockwood gave the east of the two former part houses a new facade to match the west and added a staircase that led from the street to the ground floor from the east. He also repositioned the posts that supported the structure above the ground floor and replaced the 18th century sliding windows with center post windows. Another restoration was carried out between 1974 and 1977.
architecture
Exterior
The building appears optically as two buildings, each of which has a gable as well as three floors and an attic in the gable. At street level, the left (east) house has a stone staircase with a wrought iron railing. At the level of the ground floor there is an oak handrail that closes a balustrade behind which there is a shop front. The floor above is supported by cantilevers in which giants, beasts and an owl are carved; other lighter corbels have the shape of figures. On the outside there are ten square wooden panels between the transom above the ground floor and the windows above. The windows are divided into three bays by pilasters carved from oak in Jacobean style . There is a plastered area above the windows. In the attic, the three-winged window is surrounded by further wooden panels. The verges have carved cornices , each separated by a decorated post between them.
On the first floor of the western part of the house there is a shop with a central entrance. On each side of it are two pillars and a curved window with eighteen panes. Above it are eight set-back wooden panels with carvings. The middle two show the royal coat of arms of James I with an inscription and the coat of arms of the diocese of Sodor and Man (George Lloyd was Bishop of Sodor and Man before he became Bishop of Chester) and the year 1615. To the left of these are three carved wooden panels Depictions of Adam and Eve , Cain and Abel as well as Abraham and Isaac . Two of the three wooden panels on the other side show biblical scenes.
On the first floor, four oak pilasters group the windows in three yokes, each with two windows with central mullions and one spar window , a total of 18 windows. A carved crossbeam runs above the windows and ten wooden panels show carvings of heraldic monsters. In each of the two attics there is a window with three panes, which lies between three wooden panels with further carved representations on both sides. Three undecorated wooden panels are installed above the windows. The verges are also carved in the attic and separated from each other by a post.
interior
The two vaulted cellars have walls made of red broken sandstone , the barrel vaults were probably added in the 18th century. A Chinese Chippendale- style staircase leads from the ground floor to the third floor . There are two rooms on the upper floor. The larger one has a 17th century stucco ceiling and a large open fireplace ; it is believed to have been brought here from the bishop's palace in Abbey Square after the palace was damaged in the English Civil War . The smaller room also has a stucco ceiling, but it is less decorated than in the other room. Ornamental elements include Tudor roses , horses, and a starfish. Sea monsters are depicted on a frieze that runs around the room. The fireplace in this room is smaller. The fireplace surround depicts a cupid riding a lion.
present
The house is open to visitors for inspection. Two large rooms in it are rented out for event purposes. The administration of the Chester Civic Trust is based in the building.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Images of England: 41 Watergate Street, Chester ( English ) English Heritage . Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
- ^ A b Nikolaus Pevsner , Edward Hubbard [1971]: The Buildings of England: Cheshire . Yale University Press , New Haven & London 2003, ISBN 0 300 09 588 0 , p. 169.
- ↑ a b c d e Bishop Lloyd's Palace . Chester Civic Trust. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
- ↑ a b c d Bishop Lloyd's Palace . Chester City Council. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
- ^ A b Richard Morris: The Buildings of Chester ( English ). Alan Sutton, Dover 1993, ISBN 0-7509-0255-8 , p. 21.
- ↑ Simon Ward: Chester: A History . Phillimore, Chichester 2009, ISBN 978-1-86077-499-7 , p. 62.
Coordinates: 53 ° 11 '23.6 " N , 2 ° 53' 36.2" W.