Numer 20 And Wall Attached To South West Corner

Number 20 is a house and shop located on Castlegate in York, with a wall approximately 50 meters long attached to the rear, forming a boundary between Nos 18 and 20. The wall dates from the late 13th century, while the house and shop were built in the early 19th century, with later alterations and re-roofing.

The wall is constructed of magnesian limestone, and the house is made of orange brick in Flemish bond, partly set on a painted stone plinth and featuring painted stone dressings. The ground floor retains remnants of a timber shopfront, which is rendered and painted, and the roof is obscured by a plain parapet. The building has an L-shaped plan.

The exterior features a three-storey front with three windows. The ground floor has plain pilasters and a flat cornice from an earlier shopfront, with openings altered to include a half-canted small-pane shop window to the right of a recessed glazed and panelled door, which has an upstairs access door with six sunk panels further to the left. At the left end, there is a folding door with sunk panels beneath a blind fanlight set in a semicircular arch made of painted voussoirs.

On the first floor, there is a 12-pane sash window flanked by shallow canted bay windows, each with panelled risers and 15-pane centre sashes. The second floor features windows with a 9-pane sash between two 16-pane sashes. All windows, except for the bays, have painted stone sills and flat arches made of voussoirs with keyblocks. The centre windows on both floors have floating cornices.

Inside, there is an open string staircase with shaped treads and a cast-iron balustrade featuring openwork angular panels. The first-floor room to the left has an apsidal end that cantilevers over the staircase and is fitted with cupboards that have shaped doors.

The wall attached to the rear was part of the north-west wall of the precinct of the former Franciscan Friary.