19, Castle Hill

LANCASTER

SD4761NW CASTLE HILL 1685-1/6/37 (East side) 22/12/53 No.19

GV II

Dispensary, now office. 1785, altered 1845. Sandstone ashlar facade with ashlar dressings, coursed rubble elsewhere. Slate roof with gable chimneys. Shallow double-depth plan with small one-storey lean-to extension at the rear. 2 storeys over a cellar, and 3 bays, of which the central one on the first floor contains a square niche, framed by inverted scrolled jambs under a plain cornice and containing a worn tablet inscribed 'ILC 1845'. Sill bands on both floors, and above first-floor windows a fluted frieze, in the centre of which is a plain band where the painted letters 'DISPENSARY' were just discernible in 1989, but now removed by abrasive cleaning. Overall is a shallow moulded pediment, which has 3 ball finials, divided horizontally by thin square slabs set diagonally. All the windows have plain reveals and 4-pane sashes. The central round-headed doorway, up 2 nosed steps, is flanked by engaged Tuscan columns carrying fluted entablatures and an open pediment. The door has 9 raised and fielded panels, and the fanlight has radiating glazing bars. INTERIOR: contains some doorways with reeded architraves, and panelled shutters on the first floor. HISTORY: built by public subscription in 1785 as the second home, until 1832, of the town's dispensary. The niche originally contained a square Coade stone plaque representing the Good Samaritan; this was subsequently moved and placed above the entrance of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Ashton Road (qv).

Listing NGR: SD4745461799