Old Palace, York

Old Palace, York

A chapel and vestibule built in the 1230s as part of the palace of Archbishop Walter de Gray, later renovated between 1806 and 1813 by William Shout to house the Minster's library collection. The building is constructed in Early English style from magnesian limestone ashlar with slate roofs. Windows feature decorative leading and some stained glass. Various extensions added since 1960 are not included in the listing.

The chapel is a two-storey structure with angle buttresses, a chamfered and moulded plinth, a first-floor moulded string course that also encloses the buttresses, and a further string course at eaves level with a plain parapet above. All buttresses are finished with steeply-pitched gablets.

The south-west gable was designed and rebuilt by Shout from 1806 onwards. The ground floor features double doors that are nail-studded and panelled, set within a two-centred arch of three orders. The inner order lacks colonettes, while the middle order is embellished with a dogtooth band, with dogtoothing also ornamenting the capitals of the colonettes. The first-floor window above is similarly detailed, comprising five stepped lancets separated by the middle order colonettes, all enclosed by the outer order formed as a moulded semi-circular arch.

The south-east elevation is largely as depicted in 18th-century illustrations before restoration by Shout. It is divided into four unequal bays by buttresses that are slightly shorter but otherwise detailed like the angle buttresses. The first-floor windows are similarly detailed to those of the south-west gable: the middle two bays have stepped triple lancets set beneath semi-circular arches, the western bay has a pair of lancets, and the eastern bay has a blocked single lancet, with the windows to these outer bays set within moulded two-centred arches. The western window is offset to the east within its bay; an illustration by Halfpenny shows a first-floor doorway in this position prior to restoration, now replaced by blank ashlar walling. Only the western two bays have ground-floor windows, these being centrally-set four-light cross-mullioned windows with Caernarfon lintels, which give the windows flattened trefoiled heads. The other two bays are shown by Halfpenny as having similar windows, but are now blind; the left one retains a scar line from a removed single-storey building with a single-pitched roof.

The north-east gable has two ground-floor windows like those to the side elevation, except that to the north-west being of three tall lights rather than cross-mullioned. The first-floor window above is of five lancets similar to that of the opposite gable, but is blocked. This elevation corresponds with late 18th-century depictions by Griffith and Halfpenny.

The north-west elevation is similarly detailed to the south-east side and as depicted by Griffith and Halfpenny, with two triple-lancet windows and one single lancet to the first floor, all now blocked. The ground-floor windows now open into the later extension.

The vestibule extends at right angles to the chapel and is also of two storeys, with a lower upper storey so that its ridgeline is slightly below the eaves of the chapel. The south-west elevation was reconstructed by Shout. It has a chamfered plinth and a parapet marked with a moulded string course. It is of three bays with paired trefoil-headed lights to the first-floor, the lights divided with single colonettes and set beneath semi-circular hood moulds which continue as impost-level string courses, the sills also being linked with a string course. The ground floor has plainer, tall single lights with shouldered heads, all in simple splayed openings. The entrance is between the southern two windows, a single doorway in a hollow-chamfered shouldered opening, the door being planked and nail-studded, lit with a lantern hung from a decorative bracket set above the door.

The north-east elevation of the vestibule corresponds to that depicted in late 18th-century illustrations by Griffith and Halfpenny, although the ground floor is now encased by a later extension. It has three first-floor windows detailed like those of the opposite wall reconstructed by Shout. The ground floor (now internal) has two shouldered window openings, one now converted into a doorway.

The lower floor of the chapel has a central row of octagonal stone columns with sharply defined mouldings to the bases and capitals, considered to be restorations by Shout. The deep window reveals incorporate stone seats. Extensive bookcases may conceal further features.

The upper floor of the chapel is fitted with early 19th-century bookcases, including an upper gallery, which fill the north-west wall and the whole north-eastern-most bay, explaining the blocked windows externally. These bookcases, along with the lower cases along the south-east wall, potentially conceal a piscina, ambry and sedilia that are shown built into the walling in an illustration by Halfpenny drawn around 1790. The exposed windows are framed with moulded stonework with colonettes and hood moulds, the capitals and bosses being ornamented with stiff-leaf carving, all appearing consistent with that drawn by Halfpenny. The vaulted roof post-dates 1790 and is attributed to Shout: it has ribs that spring from similarly ornamented corbels. The fireplace with its two-centred arch is also considered to be by Shout. The south-west window contains stained glass dated 1812 depicting coats of arms of people associated with the Minster.

The vestibule includes a stone staircase with half-landing and timber balustrading. The upstairs lobby has an unusual fireplace formed with a projecting carved stone hood supported by corbels in the form of gablets, all perhaps modelled loosely on the pinnacles flanking the Minster's south transept. These features are all attributed to Shout. The wall between the lobby and chapel, with its doorway and blind arcade with stiff-leaf and dogtooth ornament, is considered to be medieval in origin and was drawn and restored by Shout. The bookcases opposite the fireplace may conceal further medieval detail, including two blocked medieval windows that can be seen externally.