Bedehouses

Bedehouses

Built in 1868–69 to the designs of James Fowler, these bedehouses are constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond with ashlar stone dressings and a slate roof covering.

The building occupies a corner plot at Schoolhouse Lane and Gospelgate. A single-storey range containing two dwellings faces west onto Schoolhouse Lane. Along its east side runs a covered passageway leading to a two-storey L-shaped range facing south onto Gospelgate, which contains four dwellings (one on each floor) with a staircase in the angle of the two wings. A single-storey rectangular building stands in the rear court to the north, and a courtyard garden to the south is enclosed by walls and railings.

The building displays a Tudoresque, neo-vernacular character, its irregular plan form contributing to its homely appearance. Steeply pitched roofs are topped with terracotta cresting and raised stone-coped gables surmounted by trefoil stone finials, with the coping terminating at right angles as miniature gables beneath moulded stone kneelers. The roofline is dominated by tall paired brick chimney stacks with broached bases and octagonal stacks featuring oversailing courses.

The single-storey range on Schoolhouse Lane has a stone-coped plinth and six irregular bays. The second and fourth bays are gabled with the same coping as the roof gables. The first, second and fourth bays are lit by large three-light mullion windows in blocked stone surrounds; those in the gabled bays have pointed arch relieving arches. The narrow third and fifth bays are lit by single-light windows in matching blocked surrounds, whilst the last bay is blank. This fenestration pattern is regular on all principal elevations. A chimney stack passes through the ridge in the first bay, with another rising from the eaves of the fifth bay.

The left (north) gabled end incorporates a highly decorative original stone statue of Edward VI within a canopied, corbelled niche featuring a crenellated, vaulted canopy with cusped ogee arches surmounted by crocketed finials. The right (south) gable end is lit by a three-light mullion window with a relieving arch. In the gable head is a recessed stone panel recording the founding of the Bedehouses in 1551 by Edward VI and their rebuilding in 1869, surmounted by two small crocketed gables with carved human heads at the foot of the outer gables. The subsidiary rear (east) elevation is accessed via a covered passageway with a shallow pointed arch opening and provides entry to the dwellings. The front doors, set in similar arched openings, are late 20th-century, and the windows have been replaced with uPVC.

The two-storey L-shaped range has wide eaves with exposed rafters and timber brackets resting on moulded stone corbels at either end. Each wing has three bays with a central four-panelled 19th-century front door in a shallow pointed arch opening, flanked by three-light mullion windows, except the right bay of the east wing which has a two-light window. The first floors are identical, reached via an arched opening in the angle of the two wings leading to a flight of stone steps onto a balcony supported by moulded stone corbels and late 20th-century painted black pillars. Each wing has a ridge stack and a gable stack. The rear subsidiary elevations are plain. The windows have been replaced with uPVC and some brickwork has been replaced with 20th-century brick. The single-storey range in the rear court has the same pitched roof and decorative gabled ends as the east range facing Schoolhouse Lane, with the addition of a dentilled brick cornice. The north elevation has a door on the left and four regularly spaced brick pilasters. The gable ends are lit by four-light mullion windows under a Tudor headmould.

The dwellings retain their basic original form internally. The front doors open into a small hall, from either side of which a segmental arched opening leads into a bedroom and a sitting room. The former rear service and storage rooms have been fitted with modern kitchens and bathrooms. The interiors are very plain and have unfortunately lost their fireplaces, although many of the original moulded door frames and four-panelled doors survive. The interior of the rear single-storey range was not inspected.