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| Name: | Prior’s House complex: aka The Priory |
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| HER Reference: | WCM96375 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Grid Reference: | SO 850 544 |
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| Map Sheet: | SO85SE |
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| Parish: | Worcester (Non Civil Parish), Worcester City, Worcestershire |
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Monument Types
- GREAT HALL (MEDIEVAL - 1066 AD to 1539 AD (between))
- GUEST HOUSE (MEDIEVAL - 1066 AD to 1539 AD (between))
- MONASTIC DWELLING (MEDIEVAL - 1066 AD to 1539 AD (between))
Associated Events
- Dean's garden ('Guesten Lawn') (Ref: WCM100026)
Full description
A cluster of buildings extending north and east of the Guesten Hall (WCM 96373) representing the lodgings of the cathedral prior, and associated guest accommodation, mostly demolished in 1845 when the Dean moved out of the then Deanery (15 College Green, WCM 96367) to the former Bishops Palace (WCM 96015).
The best description of the medieval buildings is by Willis (1863). The medieval Priory consisted of a number of separate buildings of 14th-century and later date. An east-west stone range abutted the parlour/treasury/slype (WCM 96374). It had low rooms with simple windows on the ground floor, and on the first floor a large room with an 'oak panelled ceiling of Perpendicular character'; this was formerly a chamber but ended up as a laundry. To the east, an east-west timber-framed building continued the range along the back (north) wall of the Guesten Hall (WCM 96373). At its east end was a stone building or chamber, c.25 ft square, with windows in its east wall of the same 14th-century type as the Guesten Hall. The upper walls were rebuilt and sash windows added. A door communicated with the high end of the Guesten Hall. About south of the chamber stood 'an ancient hall' lying north-south, probably the Prior's Hall (Aula Prioris), 40-50 feet long by 20 feet wide. It was entirely timber-framed, with a simple open roof of 14th-century design. It had been converted and sub-divided to give a dining room below the Deanery's best bedrooms. The character of the building that linked this hall with the square chamber to the north was not recorded {1}.
Sources and further reading
| <1> | Article in serial: Willis, R. 1863. Architectural History of the Cathedral and Monastery of Worcester. Archaeol J. 20. 307-309. |
| <2> | Monograph: Noake, J. 1866. The Monastery and Cathedral of Worcester. Published in London. 355-357. |
| <3> | Monograph: Bridges, T and Mundy, C F. 1996. Worcester: a pictorial history. Phillimore. illust. 44 and 45. |
Related records
| WCM96378 | Part of: College Green (Monument) |
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