Lichfield College And Lichfield Library

Lichfield College and Lichfield Library

This building originated as part of a Franciscan Friary and was converted to residential use, then later to a school. The structure dates from around 1295, with significant alterations and extensions made in 1538 for Gregory Stonynge, and further extended between 1921 and 1928 by GC Lowbridge, the County Architect.

The building is constructed of ashlar and brick with tile roofs and brick stacks, arranged in a T-plan with end cross-wings. The original building, known as the Bishop's Lodging, forms an L-plan with a short wing.

The north wing stands two storeys with an attic. The left return range is three windows wide, with two offset ashlar and brick buttresses and three coped gables. A pointed entrance at the right end has a single-chamfered arch. A tall stair window to the left end contains leaded glazing and a 3-light ovolo-mullioned window. The first floor has two mullioned and transomed windows of three lights each, while the attic features casement windows with iron opening casements. Two twentieth-century lateral stacks are present. The end section displays early brickwork with an offset below a timber-framed gable with ogee bracing and brick infill, an ashlar angle to the right with a return raking buttress, a small high window with leaded glazing, and a slanting window to the gable.

The right return has a gabled wing to the right of centre and a right end gable. The left end is of ashlar with some brick, featuring on the ground floor a 2-light casement and a pegged cross casement, both with timber lintels and leaded glazing. The first floor has three windows with 12-pane sashes. The wing contains much ashlar and brick patching, raised eaves, and diagonal buttresses. Two windows occupy the ground floor and one the first floor, all with 12-pane sashes; the attic has a small-paned casement. The left return has a blocked first floor round-headed light with spandrels and a lateral stack, while the right return has a large brick section, eaves, a first floor door to a fire-escape with a rubbed brick flat arch, and a lateral stack. A gabled right end shows signs of blocked openings, a brick gable, and an angle buttress, with a first floor door.

The rear elevation of the south wing is two storeys tall and comprises a 5-window range with a central 2-storey porch with chamfered angles and parapet. Three offset buttresses are present. The entrance is recessed with steps leading to a recessed glazed and fielded-panelled door. Windows contain paired 18-pane horned sashes; those to the first floor have cornices and parapets, while the left end window has an inserted half-glazed door. The window to the right of the entrance displays an ex-situ gravestone of the 14th century or earlier, carved with a calvary cross fleury and worn inscription to Richard the Merchant, discovered in 1746.

A twentieth-century range of brick with ashlar dressings extends the building. This section is two storeys with a gabled centre flanked by 6- and 3-window ranges and a wing to the left end. The windows are 3-light ovolo-mullioned-and-transomed with coped gables. The centre features gabled buttresses and an entrance with a Tudor head in an architrave with label mould. Flanking windows have a cornice above that runs around the base of a canted oriel carved with vine and grapes at the base, featuring a 1:2:1-light window, flanking 3-light windows, and a light above. A range to the right fronts the old range with a gabled centre containing a first floor oriel. The range to the left is symmetrical with two gabled projections with oriels. The wing has gabled buttresses and 2:3:2-light windows with cusped panelling between floors; its left return comprises seven windows. The rear includes a hall wing with tall windows containing small-paned glazing and a tall lateral stack, with later additions.

Internally, the old part contains brick-vaulted cellars with ashlar benches and shelves. A ground floor room in the wing has chamfered beams, square panelling, a corner fireplace with pilasters, frieze and dentilled cornice, and a niche with shaped shelves and architrave. The attic displays exposed trusses, with the north wing featuring curved principals. Twentieth-century corridors and staircase have paired sashes. The twentieth-century part contains an ex-situ sixteenth-century fireplace from a panelled room, constructed of ashlar with a Tudor arch and lettering reading "GREGORY STONYNG" to the spandrels, accompanied by Delft tiles and a cast iron fireback. Late twentieth-century alterations have been made.

During the eighteenth century, the house was the home of Mrs Cobb and her niece, friends of Dr Johnson, who frequently visited them.