Former Neptune Inn and two attached houses, Numbers 10-15 Whitefriargate

This building comprises a former hotel with two attached houses, later used as offices and now shops. It was built between 1794 and 1797 by George Pycock for Hull Trinity House, with subsequent alterations and additions in the late 19th century, 1920, the mid-20th century, and the late 20th century.

The building is constructed of brick with painted ashlar dressings and has hipped, gabled, and mansard slate roofs.

The building consists of a main block with slightly projecting end pavilions and a central carriage arch leading through to the rear, flanked by a lower house forming a wing on each side. Projecting ranges extend to the rear. The main block contains a large, central, double-height assembly room on the first floor. All ground floors now contain shops, with the ground floor of the main block and left wing opened up into a larger space.

Exterior

The building stands on the south side of the street, opposite the junction with Parliament Street, which runs north from Whitefriargate.

Main Block Front Elevation

The front elevation of the main block is four storeys high (three storeys to the double-height assembly room), plus an attic. It is built of brick in Flemish bond with a brick parapet and hipped slate roof, arranged in seven bays with the outer bay on each side forming a slightly projecting end pavilion. The first floor has a corbelled sill band. Above the second-floor level is a dentillated cornice with a central tablet flanked by relief-sculpted blocks and incorporating triangular pediments to the two end pavilion bays. Above this is a parapet with ramped moulded coping and a raised central relief-sculpted panel depicting the arms of Trinity House, ribbon, and two oak branches. The block is set on a corbelled sill band.

The central bay on the ground floor has a segmental-arched carriage entrance with a rusticated surround and a giant keystone carved with a mask of Neptune, topped by a moulded cornice supported on scrolled brackets at each end. The remainder of the ground floor has late 20th-century shop fronts.

The central five bays on the first and second floors mark the location of the assembly room. The central bay has a large round-arched recess with a gauged brick head. Within this recess is a Venetian window with engaged Doric columns and quarter pilasters and a pseudo-balustrade with shaped balusters. On either side are two round-arched twelve-pane sash windows with moulded heads. Above each of these windows is a sunken rectangular panel with relief sculpture.

The end pavilions have large round-arched recesses with brick pilasters, moulded imposts, and gauged brick heads. Within each recess is a tripartite sash window on the first floor with pilasters and a cornice, and a Diocletian window with a moulded head above at second-floor level.

The third-floor level has a central tripartite glazing bar sash window with a flat head of gauged brick. To each side are two six-pane sash windows with segmental heads of gauged bricks. The end pavilions each have two round windows.

Set back behind the parapet, the entire main block has a hipped slate roof with two dormer windows above the second and sixth bays, each with a tall brick stack adjacent to their outer side, and another tall brick stack at the right-hand end. There are also dormer windows to both side elevations.

Flanking Side Wings

The front elevations of the flanking side wings (former houses) are each three bays wide and three lower storeys with attics. The parapets have moulded copings.

The left wing has three windows with flat heads of gauged bricks on the first floor and three smaller windows with similar gauged brick heads and stone sills on the second floor. The first-floor windows have sashes with two square panes over two rectangular panes. The second-floor windows have three-over-six pane sashes. The ground floor has a late 20th-century shop front.

The right wing has three similar second-floor windows. The first floor has a late 19th-century shop facade with three large round-headed windows with small-pane glazing and pilasters between them. On either side is a panelled pilaster carrying a fascia with scroll brackets and a dentillated cornice. The modern shop front on the ground floor is flanked by panelled pilasters.

Rear Elevations

The rear elevation of the main block has four projecting bays to the centre with a recessed bay on each side with ramped parapets. The third bay of the projecting bays has a segmental-arched carriage entrance with a giant keystone. The windows in the projecting bays have flat heads of gauged bricks and stone sills. Above the carriage entrance is a tall first-floor stair window with a six-over-nine pane sash frame. The other first-floor windows have six-over-six pane sashes, the second-floor windows have three-over-six pane sashes, and the third-floor windows have three-over-three pane sashes, with two dormer windows to the roof. The recessed bays are largely obscured by projecting ranges, but the upper windows are round-headed.

The east projecting range is three bays wide and two storeys with an attic storey. It is built of brick in Flemish bond with a slate mansard roof with moulded timber eaves cornice. The west elevation faces into the courtyard and has blocked ground-floor windows retaining gauged brick heads, along with two modern openings. The first floor has three large windows with tripartite timber frames, with three dormers above. Built against the south gable wall is a two-storey, single-bay, flat-roofed electricity substation. To the right is a single-storey L-shaped brick building. The west and north elevations face into the yard and have a stone plinth and parapet of modern bricks. The west elevation has a small paired window set into a round-headed recess with soldier bricks and a doorway to the right with steps up and a rectangular overlight with a gauged brick head. The return north elevation has a wide segmental-arched recess with a giant keystone and impost band, containing a large segmental-arched window with a mullion and transom frame and stone sill band. The right-hand corner projects slightly. The west gable is blind with a stepped parapet and tall brick stack. The outer south elevation has a stepped parapet. To the left is a six-over-six pane sash window with a gauged brick head. Towards the right is a doorway and two similar windows, though with less well-formed brick heads.

The west projecting range is five bays wide and two storeys. It is built of machine-made brick with sandstone dressings and a pitched slate roof with three brick ridge stacks. The slightly projecting second bay has a round-headed doorway framed by alternating brick and stonework with a moulded giant keystone. The doorway has double doors with fielded panels and a tripartite fanlight over. The ground-floor windows are round-headed with moulded giant keystones. The flat-headed first-floor windows have moulded stone frames. The window over the doorway has an ashlar stone surround with two cartouches, one dated 1794, the other dated 1920. At the right-hand end is a small single-storey flat-roofed infill building abutting the rear wall of the main block. At the left-hand end is a recessed bay with a single-storey flat-roofed section with a small window abutting a two-storey pitched roof section with a partially chamfered corner and a first-floor window. The window and door openings in the south gable wall have gauged brick heads.

Interior

The interior of the main block and the left wing (Number 10) were inspected. The interior of the east rear range was partially inspected. The right wing (Number 15) and the west rear range were not inspected internally.

The interest of the interior lies primarily in the upper floors, as the ground floors have been altered for retail use with the loss of many original fixtures and fittings.

First Floor

On the first floor of the main block, the double-height assembly room has Adam-style plasterwork with an enriched modillion cornice and a coved ceiling with a delicately detailed tripartite plaster ceiling. The south wall has a central round-arched recess, and the east and west end walls each have two recesses with semi-elliptical heads, all with enriched plasterwork detailing. Between the end wall recesses are oval wall panels with vine enrichment. The two doorways in the southern end wall recesses have enriched door cases with friezes and cornices and six fielded-panel doors.

A number of first-floor rooms retain moulded cornices, some of which continue between modern subdivisions, and windows with fielded-panel shutters and soffits. At the west end of the main block is a stair hall, though the staircase at this level has been removed. Towards the east end, in the left wing, is a stair hall with an enriched cornice and an open-well ramped timber staircase. Between the first and second floors, the staircase has slender turned balusters, decorative tread ends, and a moulded ramped handrail. The large stair hall to the centre rear of the main block has a modern staircase.

Second Floor

The second-floor fixtures and fittings include moulded cornices, a number of six fielded-panel doors with moulded timber architraves, and panelled window shutters, soffits, and aprons. The north-west room in the main block has a fireplace with a hob grate and a simple moulded timber chimneypiece.

The stair hall at the west end of the main block has an open-well timber staircase with a swept moulded handrail, slender turned balusters, and decorative tread ends. The staircase now rises between the second floor and attic (the staircase between the first and second floors has been removed). The intermediate and upper newel posts are turned columns; the second-floor newel post has been replaced. At the east end of a longitudinal corridor in the main block is a closed-string staircase rising between the second and third floors with a moulded ramped handrail and slender turned balusters.

The left wing staircase continues up to an attic. Between the second floor and attic, it has a closed string with slender turned balusters and a moulded ramped handrail. The attic has four fielded-panel doors.

Third Floor

The third floor in the main block has rooms to each side of a spine corridor opening into a stair hall at each end. Fixtures and fittings include moulded cornices, six fielded-panel doors with moulded architraves, and panelled window shutters, soffits, and aprons. The wide central window to the front elevation has a window seat and deep soffit with a central timber column. At either end of the corridor is a wide doorway with a fielded-panel and part-glazed segmental-arched door with a fan overlight.

There are several fireplaces with timber chimneypieces and arched grates; the large south-west corner room has an early 19th-century chimneypiece with reeding and bulls-eye details. The walls in this room also retain stencilling above a reeded dado rail. In the south-east corner of the corridor is a simple dog-leg staircase with timber treads rising to the east end of the attic. The larger west staircase rises to the west end of the attic.

Attic

The attic has a hipped roof with a raised roof structure. There are five machine-sawn king-post trusses with raking struts. The tie beams are supported on posts with raking struts connecting them to lower outer posts. There are two tusk-tenoned purlins to each side with closely-spaced battens. There are two small casement dormer windows to each side and one at each end.