Jacobs Well

Jacob's Well

House, now the parish room of Holy Trinity Priory Church on Micklegate. The building dates to the late 15th century, with possible extensions in the early 16th century, the hall floored in the 17th century, and a wing raised with further extensions in the early 19th century. Major restorations and alterations occurred in 1905, undertaken by Walter Harvey Brook, including reconstruction of the late 15th-century canopy over the door. A further restoration in 1991 by Peter Marshall, Architects of York, involved removal of an additional storey and construction of a new roof to the wing.

The building is timber-framed with original wall tile infilling. The ground floor at the front is encased in rubble stone with areas of brick of various dates; ground floor alterations at the rear are rebuilt in dressed stone. The first floor of both fronts is plastered and whitewashed. The 19th-century extension is of red brick, partly in Flemish bond and partly in English garden-wall bond. Roofs are of tile and pantile, with a rebuilt brick stack at the left end of the entrance front.

The plan comprises a 1-bay open hall with a 2-bay cross wing and later extensions.

The front elevation shows a 2-storey facade with two and half bays of framing, the upper floor jettied on two sides, and a 2-storey 1-window extension to the right. The original entrance in the jettied right return is now enclosed in the 19th-century extension. A door case towards the left end incorporates a reconstructed canopy with embattled mouldings, coffered on the underside, mounted on medieval cusped brackets with spandrels carved with an eagle, a Tudor rose, leaves and flowers. The renewed door features a 2-centred head in an architrave carved with flower heads between colonnette jambs with moulded bases and inverted bell capitals. A renewed 3-light mullioned window occupies the left end of the ground floor; to the right is a renewed pair of 6-pane horizontal sliding sashes. The first floor contains two mullioned windows—one of 5 lights in a shallow oriel and one of 4 lights, both renewed—with timber mullions of diamond form and lead latticed lights. Both windows in the extension are 2-light horizontal sliding sashes, 6-paned on the ground floor beneath a segmental arch and 4-paned on the first floor beneath a timber lintel, both with stone sills.

The rear elevation shows a 2-storey 1-bay hall with a 2-storey cross wing to the right. A double chamfered doorway in the cross wing has a 2-centred head and nail-studded door, positioned to the left of a hollow-chamfered square-headed window of two pointed lights. The ground floor of the hall contains a projecting square bay with roll moulded parapet and a 4-light mullion window. A continuous hoodmould runs across the bay window and returns above the door and window in the cross wing. On the first floor, the cross wing has a 4-light window with brick mullions in a chamfered brick surround, and the hall has a 6-light timber mullioned window. The hall features timber guttering on elongated iron scroll brackets.

Interior features on the ground floor include an inserted studded wall dividing the cross wing, where a dragon beam and floor joists survive at the right end (some replacements), and the left end is under-ceiled. In the wall between the cross wing and the 19th-century extension, an original doorway and 6-light mullion window survive beneath the original first floor jetty. The hall contains an ogee-arched chamfered fireplace with a heavy timber lintel carved with embattled mouldings; the ceiling beam and joists are chamfered. An inserted door and 3-light mullion window provide access to the staircase extension. The staircase has a close string and open panelled balustrade, a moulded handrail, and square newels with truncated pyramidal caps. A 2-light mullion and transom staircase window features leaded lights and opaque glazing with ogee mullions and transoms. On the first floor, the ceiling over the stairs is coffered with chamfered beams and painted carved bosses at the intersections. The hall framing is complete except for the wall broken for the staircase. In the cross wing, a chimneybreast and fire hood feature a timber surround to the fireplace with simply moulded jambs and shelf.

The roofs include the hall with two crown post trusses with ridge purlin, collared rafters and one side purlin on the intact side opposite the staircase. The cross wing roof is a reconstructed crown post type. Notable early and late 20th-century ironwork appears on most doors and windows.