York Historic Environment Record

YORK SE6052SW ST LEONARD'S PLACE 1112-1/27/945 (East side) 14/06/54 De Grey Rooms and attached gates, railings and lamp standards (Formerly Listed as: ST LEONARD'S PLACE De Grey Rooms, De Grey House and railings) GV II* Formerly known as: De Grey Rooms, including railings and The Conservative Club ST LEONARD'S PLACE. Subscription rooms with attached front railings, carriage gates and lamp standards; now municipal rooms. 1841-42. By GT Andrews. MATERIALS: white painted Roman cement at front, rusticated on ground floor: rear of orange-grey brick in English garden-wall bond, first floor partly weatherboarded; slate roof with hipped clerestory to part, and brick stacks. Cast-iron gates, railings and lamp standards on low stone plinth. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys and basement; 7-bay front, 5 centre bays project between recessed end bays: at left end, square-arched carriageway and double gates. Unequal 12-pane sash windows to basement area. Flat bridge spanning area leads to right of centre entrance with double doors of raised and fielded panelling. Ground floor windows are inset 1-pane sashes with sills. On first floor, tall round-headed windows have continuously moulded architraves, centre ones with pediment hoods on scroll consoles. Heavy moulded cornice on massive grooved brackets over centre bays, moulded cornices over fasciated friezes to end bays. 5 centre windows fronted by continuous balcony with cast-iron balustrade: outer bays have similar balconies. Rear: 2- and 3-storey curving front, 2-storey weatherboarded part jettied. On ground floor windows are unequal 42-pane sashes, on first and second floors 20-pane sashes; all have stone sills and flat arches of brick. Weatherboarded part has 20-pane sashes with timber sills. INTERIOR: open string staircase to first floor has cast-iron grapevine balustrade and serpentine handrail wreathed at foot on shaped curtail step. First floor: landing has moulded cornice. Large room has three doorcases with panelled double doors in architraves with panelled reveals and moulded cornice overdoors on enriched consoles with wheatear pendants. Panelled window shutters. Two fireplaces, now blocked, have plain surrounds with cornice shelves on paired consoles. Dado rail enriched with Greek key and flower mouldings: panel surrounds above similarly enriched, with paterae at the corners. Enriched cornice to coffered ceiling carried on massive scrolled corbels; beam soffits moulded with Greek key, central panels are glazed, outer ones enclose chrysanthemum mouldings. Small room has apsidal end, moulded dado rail and moulded panel walls: main doorcase repeats those in large room: panelled window shutters: ceiling enriched with 3 bands of mouldings. SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: railings have mushroom finials, mace-head standards and bracing to ground floor walls: carriage gates of same railings, strengthened with curved braces. Gate posts square-section with panelled sides and foliate finials. Similar piers support tapered hexagonal gas lamps on fluted shafts with crossbar. HISTORICAL NOTE: rooms were built by public subscription at the instigation of the Earl de Grey, Commanding Officer of the Yorkshire Hussars, to provide a place for the Regiment's Annual Mess and to supplement accommodation at The Assembly Rooms, Blake Street (qv). (City of York: RCHME: The Central Area: HMSO: 1981-: 103). Listing NGR: SE6011652202