Hull Charterhouse And Attached Boundary Wall And Railings

Hull Charterhouse is an almshouse built between 1778 and 1780, with a 19th-century rear addition, designed by Joseph Hargrave. The building is constructed from brick with painted ashlar dressings and features hipped slate roofs topped with a large wooden cupola supported by six Ionic columns and a lead dome. It has ten brick ridge stacks, some of which have been renewed. The structure includes a plinth, a dentillated eaves cornice, and a pediment.

The main range is two storeys high and has seven windows, with a central projecting pedimented section containing three windows, flanked by wings, each with three windows. The windows are 12-pane sashes with painted brick flat arches. The central pediment displays a coat of arms. A semicircular Roman Doric portico with two columns and a leaded half-dome features a frieze with a Latin inscription. The openings are adorned with wrought-iron railings and gates. The recessed doorway is flanked by Doric columns and half-columns. The returns of the building have five 12-pane sashes on each floor, with the nearest windows to the front being blank.

The hipped two-storey rear addition has four windows on each floor and four stacks. Inside, the building has spinal corridors and a notable chapel featuring a moulded cornice and a three-compartment ceiling with a central glazed dome, along with round arched windows at either end. An elegant Classical wooden doorcase is located in the centre of one long wall, complete with a frieze adorned with floral swags and a segmental pediment, leading to glazed double doors with glazing bars. Opposite the door, there is a semicircular wooden pulpit set into the wall, featuring a carved ogee bracket and a half-round sounding board. Below the pulpit, a clerk's desk is enclosed by a rail with spindle-turned balusters, and the altar rail at the right end has heavy turned balusters.

Outside, cast-iron spearhead railings run between the wings, supported by a brick plinth, ashlar coping, and a central gate. The Hull Charterhouse was founded by the prominent merchant Michael de la Pole in 1384.