Master'S House To Rear Of Hospital Of St John Without The Barrs

The Master's House, located to the rear of the Hospital of St John without the Barrs, is a substantial house dating from circa 1495. It incorporates earlier foundations, likely from circa 1135, and has undergone significant alterations in the late 16th or early 17th century, and again in the late 18th century. The stucco that clad the exterior was removed around 1980, revealing the brick and ashlar construction. It has a slate roof with brick end stacks and a double-depth plan.

The east front, which faces the road, is of three storeys and has a two-window range. An outshut with a catslide roof is attached to the left, connecting to the chapel. Quoins indicate the original layout, with a recessed central section, and some original window dressings remain. The entrance features moulded pilaster strips, a frieze and cornice above a six-panel door. A matching entrance exists on the return of the outshut. The windows are mostly segmental-headed; the ground floor has an 18-pane sash, the first floor has similar windows, and the second floor has two-light casements, one with partly leaded glazing. The rear façade, a three-window range, features a cogged frieze above the ground floor, an ashlar cornice above the first floor, and a simple brick top cornice. Windows have sills and brick flat arches, with 8/12-pane sashes on the ground floor, 16-pane sashes on the first floor, and 9-pane sashes on the second floor. Diapering is visible on the left side of the first floor, and dressings and straight joints indicate the former positions of windows.

The left return, facing the entrance front, has two projecting stacks. The entrance has a doorcase with panelled pilaster strips and a cornice above a fanlight with radial glazing bars and a three-panel door. The right return features blocked windows and a similar entrance with doorcase.

The interior includes cellars with medieval masonry, with some recesses featuring four-centred heads and stop-chamfered joists. There is an open-well staircase with a close string, an entablature with a pulvinated frieze, column-on-vase balusters, square newels, and a moulded handrail. The entrance hall has 17th-century panelling, and a room to the rear left has panelled walls dating from circa 1720, including a dado rail, cornice, fireplace, and an elliptical recess incorporating a fixed sideboard. The first floor contains rooms with large beams and joists; two are richly moulded. Two-panel doors are also present throughout.

The house is built upon the original foundations of the hospital hall, an extension of the chapel. An early 18th-century depiction showed the building with gables flanking a central recess.