Monument Type(s):

• HOUSE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• WATER GATE? (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1540 AD?)
• HOUSE (16th century to Late 19th century - 1580 AD? to 1899 AD)

Summary

A timber framed, 3 storey house, dated 1580, which is protected by protected by Grade II Listing. Built around a medieval core.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA6095 - 2006 Archaeological and Architectural survey of Bishop Percy's House, Bridgnorth by King Partnership (Ref: 13/04909/LBC)
• ESA8223 - 2007 DBA of Bishop Percy's House, 52-53 Cartway, Bridgnorth by Christopher Phillpotts (Ref: 13/04908/FUL)
• ESA8224 - 2016 WB and building recording at Bishop Percy's House, Bridgnorth, Shropshire by CPAT (Ref: 13/04908/FUL)

Description

(Bridgnorth Boy's Club). Dated 1580. Timber framed with plaster, pierced quatrefoils, etc. 3 storeys; triple gabled with bargeboards; 2 wood mullioned transomed windows to first floor. 2nd and 3rd storeys overhang on enriched consoles; moulded wood cornice; old tile roof. Ground floor alterations. Formerly with plaque recording that Bishop Percy (Author of "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry") born here 1728.
Nos 51 to 68 (consec) form a group with Nos 40 to 42 (consec) River Side <1>

An architectural appraisal of Bishop Percy’s House was carried out in May 2006. The development area consists of Bishop Percy’s House and the adjacent properties of No 53 Cartway [PRN 11520] and the large Gymnasium to the rear. From the inspection of the interior, it appears to have been built around the core of an earlier stone building and was also used as a foundry in the 19th century. ->

-> Analysis revealed that it was built around a medieval core, comprising a stair tower, the block of chimney stacks and the two cellars beneath the front of the house, and the east wall of the cellar of no 53 Cartway. These are all built of roughly-squared sandstone and form parts of the same build. Two Grinshill sandstone columns in the cellar appear to derive from this earlier building. In the rear first-floor room is a late 15th or early 16th-century stone fireplace, set into the main stone chimney stack, pre-dating the timber house and incorporated into it. It has been speculated that this medieval structure may be related to a water gate into the town from the Severn shore. <5>

This is a 3-bayed, box-framed, two and a half storied building with 3 large dormer gables. It has decorative framing with S-braces and cusped lozenge work. The entrance at the W end leads into a through passage while an added wing at the rear contains the staircase which winds around a central pillar. In the main ground-floor room is an inscription above what was a fireplace: EXCEPT THE LORD BUILD THE HOWSE THE LABOURERS THEREOF PREVAIL NOT. ERECTED BY R.FOR. 1580. Richard Forster was a barge-master. Photographs of exterior and overmantel. <7>

The medieval core of Bishop Percy’s House might be interpreted (see <5>) as a tower projecting from the eastern town wall to the east of the Cowgate (see PRN 00384), and the town wall may have run northward along the upper terrace edge to the west of the site, to join Cripplegate further to the north. It is not clear if the lower terrace which currently forms the site of the gymnasium was created in the medieval period or as part of the late 16th century construction. In either case it is likely to have been composed of imported material filled in behind a retaining wall over the natural sandstone slope. <8>

Photograph submitted to the HER of the overmantel, below which is a door opening. The property is now (2018) in use as a tea-rooms. <9>

A programme of archaeological work was undertaken in 2016 in connection with changes to Bishop Percy’s House, Bridgnorth, Shropshire (SO 7180 9308). ->

-> The main house, built in 1580 for Richard Forster, a shipping merchant was constructed on the site of an earlier medieval building. During the 18th century it was the birthplace of Thomas Percy, later Bishop of Dromore, for whom the house is named. By the late 19th century a brass and iron foundry had been constructed to the rear of the property and the house was described as being in a neglected condtion, having being occupied by a number of small businesses. The house was in such a poor state by the start of the 20th century that it was threatened with demolition. In the first half of the twentieth century it was used by the Scout Movement, and also used as a soup kitchen. Following the Second World War it was occupied by Bridgnorth Boys Club and the Air Training Corps (ATC) until it was given up in 2003. ->

-> The basic fabric of the house appears to have survived in relatively unchanged form. Five broad phases of construction have been identified:
1 the remaining elements of the medieval building including the chimney and part of the tower
2 Forster’s 16th century timber house
3 the construction of the adjoining house (No 53), during the late 17th century to the west of the main building
4 the 19th century refacing of the eastern gable
5 the 20th century alterations, including the rebuilding of the rear wing and the stair tower. ->

-> Changes to the internal fabric of the building during the current development were extremely limited. Removal of cladding material in the roof revealed the upper structure of the main chimney stack, and the roof of the front range. A break was identified in the subdividing wall on the middle floor of the main building, probably a former doorway running east-west. ->

-> The post-war gymnasium was demolished during the current works, in order to allow the construction of holiday lets on the same footprint. A hand excavated test pit and a machine excavated footing revealed late post medieval soil deposition up to 0.6m in thickness overlying a broadly flat but uneven terrace cut into the sandstone bedrock. No finds were recovered from the overlying deposition but it contained large quantities of industrial residues, probably dating from the usage of this area as a foundry during the 19th century. <10>

Photographs taken 3rd April 2019. <11>

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.