York Historic Environment Record

YORK SE55SE ST GEORGE'S PLACE 1112-1/1/934 (South side) 24/06/83 No.27 Bishopsbarns and garden wall and gates attached at front II* House; garden wall and gates attached at front. 1905. By WH Brierley for himself; plasterwork by G Bankart; gardens by Gertrude Jekyll. MATERIALS: handmade red-orange brick in English bond with moulded brick and tile dressings; roofs of handmade tile, steeply pitched over centre range at front with 4 segment gabled dormers; tall brick stacks are banded, quoined, corniced, some conjoined and diagonally set. Garden wall is handmade English bonded brick. Garden gate and other woodwork is of untreated oak: windows in wooden pegged oak frames. EXTERIOR: front: centre range of 2 storeys and attics; 5 windows irregularly disposed: to left is 2-storey gabled crosswing, to right cross-gabled wing of 2 storeys with attic. Off-centre double front doors with inset glazing beneath shallow segment-arched porch on flat brackets. In centre range windows are of 1, 2 or 3 diamond-latticed mullioned lights, except for staircase window which is transomed and has decorative glazing bars. Left wing has two 1-light windows on both floors and extruded stack at gable apex over sunk brick panel in moulded brick surround. Right wing has 4-light mullioned and transomed window on ground floor; on first floor tripartite window with segment-arched centre casements beneath full-width hoodmould. Gable with tiny square-headed window in apex beneath stepped-up hoodmould, filled with raised bands and panels of decorative brickwork. Rear: 1 low storey; left end has attic with 3-light window in gableted dormer; attic to right of centre has 6-light raking dormer window; left of centre is 2-storey cross-gabled wing; gableted crosswing at right end. At right of centre is canted trabeated loggia; deeply recessed at rear are glazed and panelled doors and 4-light and 2-light mullioned windows to left and right respectively. Wing to left has 6-light transomed window on ground floor; on first floor, similar window over dentilled sill band, beneath soldier brick arch and triple-arched hoodmould. Gable above is filled with bands and strings of cogged brick with tiny pointed window in apex. Right wing has 5-light mullioned window on ground floor, similar 4-light window on first floor. Left return: 2 storeys, 2 bays, left one gabled and filled with bands and panels of decorative brickwork. Gabled bay has canted bay on ground floor with 6-light Ipswich window: on first floor, 5-light mullioned window, centre light arched, with brick dentilled sill band and hood. Gable above filled with decorative brickwork. To right are 5-light mullioned windows on both floors, ground floor one with pent hood. Windows except where indicated otherwise are square-latticed casements, some with top-hung lights. INTERIOR: the only alteration to Brierley's original arrangements has been some modernisation of the kitchen and bathroom. Ground floor only inspected. Outer lobby lined with original Delft tiles collected by Brierley. Inner front door screen is of linenfold panelling. Inner and outer halls and drawing room are panelled in square wainscotting: dining room retains original wallpaper. Drawing and dining rooms have moulded plaster ceilings: drawing room ceiling is barrel-vaulted with isolated flower motifs, incorporating the initials WHB and GB, and a guardian angel holding a model of the house; dining room ceiling is divided into 3 bays by heavy plaster beams, each division having a zodiac sign in each corner; inner hall has moulded cornice. Drawing and dining rooms and inner hall have stone fireplaces, the former in carved wood surrounds, the drawing room one with tiled slips. Drawing room and staircase windows incorporate original painted glass. Main staircase has open string, stocky turned balusters and square newels. Original light fittings survive throughout ground floor. Built-in cupboards, pantry shelving, stone sink and other fittings retained in service rooms. SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: garden wall fronts the full width of the site, returning at the each end of the centre range to form a forecourt of small cobbled squares. Wall is approximately 2 metres high, incorporating lozenge panels of raised brickwork and has dentilled cornice beneath sloped coping. Piers are square on plan with flat caps and ball finials. Garden gate at far left end is boarded, on strap hinges and has segment-arched timber overthrow. Back gate at far right end is of turned timber bars and dog bars, in segment-headed frame. (Weaver L: Small Country Houses of Today: London: 1922-: 145; Nuttgens P: Brierley in Yorkshire: York: 1984-: 13-16). Listing NGR: SE5895750665