Rowley'S House And Rowley'S Mansion

Pair of houses, now museum, in Shrewsbury. Rowley's House dates to the later 16th century and Rowley's Mansion to 1618. Both buildings were restored in 1932. They were built for Roger Rowley, a wool merchant, and his son. The mansion is described as the earliest brick building in Shrewsbury.

Rowley's House is the earlier of the two buildings and is timber-framed with a plain tiled roof. The main range is divided by an archway through to the rear, with a cross wing projecting to the left of this. The structure is three storeys with an attic, comprising a seven-window range in all. The main range comprises two gables, each of two bays. An archway is positioned to the left in the left-hand gable, and a doorway to the left in the right-hand gable. The upper storeys are jettied. Two-light casements appear on each floor, with three-light windows in the gable apex. The framing is laid in square panels with intermediate studs and tension braces. The framing is not continuous across the gables, suggesting two possible phases of construction. The rear elevation also comprises two gables, with casement windows of two and three lights. The cross range beyond the passage is framed with similar technique and is possibly of similar date. A doorway in the right of the gable has a moulded arched lintel, and casement windows, some with transoms, appear on each floor. The roof line of an adjacent demolished building is encapsulated in this gable wall. Some rear casements retain early leaded lights, and some wood mullions are arranged diagonally, though much of the fenestration has been renewed in successive restorations. A deep jetty over the street in the side wall to the left is carried on additional posts.

Rowley's Mansion adjoins the timber building to the right and is constructed in brick. It is three storeys with attics and has two gables to the front elevation, largely blank, reflecting the former presence of adjacent buildings. The side gable has four-light stone mullioned and transomed windows on each floor, with smaller two-light windows each side on the ground and first floors. Many of these windows were renewed during the 1932 restoration. Stone moulded string courses and angle quoins continue across the rear elevation and canted wing. The rear of the front range has a full-height squared bay window with mullioned and transomed windows and a strapwork parapet. A porch is positioned in the angle of this range and rear wing. The architrave has high bases enriched with strapwork decoration to moulded shafts with a triglyph frieze in the entablature. The doorway is in a shallow segmental arch with a bulbous keystone and stepped voussoirs. Three- and four-light stone mullioned and transomed windows in this wing do not align on each floor, and the fenestration is asymmetrical on the opposite elevation also.

Interior: Rowley's House comprises a main ground-floor hall of five bays with roughly chamfered cross beams carried on brackets over projecting wall posts. A stone fireplace is located in the end wall. Rowley's Mansion adjoins to the right, sharing the end wall stack. The lower room has a square panelled ceiling with rosette decoration. A staircase, renewed, is situated in the canted wing of the mansion, abutting the rear wall of Rowley's House.