Vicars Court And Priests Vicars Houses

Vicars’ Court and Priests’ Vicars Houses are former priests’ lodgings, now two houses, located within Minster Yard, Lincoln. The building’s construction began in the late 13th century by Bishop Sutton and was completed around 1309. It was altered in the 15th century, and subsequently reroofed and altered in the late 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The building is constructed of dressed stone, with a pantile roof and two gable stacks. A chamfered string course and seven corbels are visible on the north front.

The exterior is two storeys and six bays. The north front features an off-centre wooden doorcase with an overlight dating to the late 18th century, and a simpler doorcase added in the late 20th century to its right. The fenestration is irregular and has been largely restored. It includes two 2-light pointed arched windows on each floor, and an additional single lancet window above. The rear elevation displays a double chamfered plinth and a coped parapet. Two square garderobe shafts, three storeys high, rise from the rear, each with parapets and arched openings now mostly blocked. A buttress with two setoffs is situated between the shafts, flanked by single buttress stacks. Further buttress stacks are located at the east end. The rear elevation includes three arched openings with hoodmoulds, reglazed in the 19th century, and flat-headed windows from the 15th century with three and four lights, also with hoodmoulds. Above these are six 2-light pointed arched windows with hoodmoulds, mostly reglazed, four of which have tracery. The return angle to the north, incorporating part of the west range, has a renewed 2-light pointed arched window and doorway with hoodmoulds to the left, and a blocked doorway from the 14th century to the right. Above the blocked doorway is a restored 2-light pointed arched window from the 14th century. To the left in this return is a pair of pointed arched loops, one above the other, with the upper one blocked.

The interior features a central stone spiral staircase with a round newel at the base and a chamfered newel above, along with chamfered arched doorways. The first floor includes two window seats and fragments of 14th-century window glass. Concealed original fireplaces are present on the south side, and at the west end is a panelled room from around 1670. Remnants of the original arch braced roof are visible, with faceted corbels. This building is the earliest known example of a range of lodgings served by a common stair, a style akin to that of a University college.