White Friars Lodge

White Friars Lodge is a town house, now used as offices, located on the north side of White Friars in Chester. The building has a probably medieval and 17th to 18th century core, which was refaced, partly rebuilt and extended in 1885 by the architect T M Lockwood.

The exterior is constructed of red sandstone, brown brick, Ruabon brick and terracotta, with a grey slate roof. The building displays gables to the south, west and north, topped with terracotta ridges. The structure comprises cellars, two full storeys and an attic, with three windows to the south and a hip-roofed one-storey wing to the west with a long side facing Bollands Court.

The front elevation to White Friars is richly decorated in Lockwood's characteristic style. The west wing features two cross-windows beneath segmental gauged brick arches. Above these is a door of six panels topped by three shaped leaded panes in a basket-arched opening with moulded brick jambs rising from corbels at the sill stringcourse. A terracotta cartouche in the panel above the door is inscribed "WHITE.FRIARS.LODGE". The first storey displays two basket-arched mullioned and transomed casements with terracotta keystones, beneath which are panels four courses high and a moulded sillband. The second storey features a central mullioned and transomed three-light basket-arched window flanked by panels with terracotta pilasters and single basket-arched two-light windows to east and west, all with terracotta keystones and a moulded string. Below this is a row of six panels and a two-course moulded sillband. The attic storey contains a basket-arched three-light leaded casement with plain brick pilasters and panels; the second and fourth panels contain small leaded fixed lights. Two blank basket-arches above support an aedicule inscribed "18.FB.85", probably for Frederick Bullin, positioned in the gable apex with moulded dentils to the verge.

The west face includes a cross-casement, two small partly-leaded casements and a three-light mullioned and transomed casement with an ornate cast-iron grille over the central lower light in the side of the one-storey wing. The second storey behind displays a two-pane casement, a moulded eaves-band, pilasters and two small leaded lights in the gable, with a shaped Ruabon brick chimney.

Much of the rear gable end is of irregular bond brown brick, probably of 18th century date. Three altered cross-casements are visible on this elevation, with an inserted two-pane casement with leaded, tinted and patterned glazing to the west and a large Ruabon brick chimney to the east. A modern rendered rear extension has been added.

The ornately decorated Ruabon brick and terracotta front is typical of T M Lockwood's architectural work, though unusual for him is the retention of parts of the earlier building.

The interior reveals evidence of the building's earlier history. The cellar walls are of squared rubble sandstone, suggesting medieval origins. A cambered roughly chamfered cross-beam approximately 0.25 metres square is consistent with 17th century or possibly earlier construction. The first storey contains an inner front door with patterned leaded glazing and a corner fireplace in the stair hall, possibly of 18th century date but altered, featuring Ionic pilasters. The staircase itself dates to 1885 and features a closed string, turned newels, three stout barleysugar balusters per two steps and a screen of turned balusters to the outer side.

The front east room on the first storey retains a now painted tongue-stopped chamfered beam, probably of 17th century date. The second storey rear room contains a now painted beam with simply stopped chamfers, also probably 17th century in origin. A Greek Revival fireplace with a cartouche in the frieze beneath the mantel is present in the upper floors.

Records show that an Improvement Committee Minutes reference from Chester City Council dated 3 December 1884 relates to this property.