Northwall House

Northwall House, Worcester

House, now office. This building dates from the late 18th century with possible earlier 18th-century origins, and probably incorporates part of the medieval city wall. It has undergone later additions and alterations, including a refacing of the north facade around 1870 and the addition of wings.

The main 18th-century structure is of three storeys arranged in three bays. The east facade features a central entrance doorway with a 6-panel door with continuous moulded architrave and a plain glazed fanlight (now masked by a 19th-century outer hall entered from north and south ends). The windows are 6/6 sashes; those on the first floor have flat arches of gauged brick with keystones. A modillion eaves band runs across the facade. Against the south gable wall stands a gable-ended service wing of two storeys with an attic, which may represent the surviving part of an earlier 18th-century house.

The west facade displays horizontal rustication and quoins at the south end, with one 6/6 sash window on each floor in near-flush frames; those to the ground and first floors have keystones.

The north end wall was rebuilt in the mid-19th century in Lombardic style. Red brick in Flemish bond covers the north facade with purple brick, ashlar and ceramic dressings. The reconstructed north elevation creates an imposing facade with single-storey, single-bay wings added to the east and west. The central feature is a two-storey canted bay window with semi-circular arched 1/1 horned sash windows to the lower storey, which have a chamfered sill band and stone transoms at impost level continued as a string course on brackets across the facade. Carved stone lunettes appear above the centre windows. The upper 1/1 sashes are Caernarvan-arched with corbel arches above in a stone band below a stone bracketed eaves cornice. Above on the second floor is a stone balcony supported by stone brackets with a wrought-iron balustrade. Two semi-circular arched glazed doors framed by colonnettes with carved caps, set within a pointed arch containing a circular blank roundel, give access to the balcony, which is surmounted by a gabled timber canopy on brackets. The centre and wings have stone dentil cornices above a ceramic frieze of red and cream tiles, and parapets over the wings are set with blank stone roundels at intervals. A stone-framed entrance doorway under a gablet with a carved coat of arms leads to an entry hall in the north wing. Semi-circular arched sashes light the wings. All windows feature variegated voussoirs of stone and brick. An 18th-century arched entrance doorway with continuous moulded architrave retains an 18th-century 6-panel door and plain glazed fanlight.

The stucco-rendered west wall is scored in imitation of ashlar. The east facade displays orange-red brick in Flemish bond. Plain tile roofs feature brick off-centre and end stacks with oversailing courses and pots. The north end of the house overrides the line of the north flank of the medieval city wall, possibly represented by sandstone blocks in the north wall of the cellar.

Interior: The central entrance hall and staircase retain replacement turned newels, stick balusters, a moulded handrail and wall rail. The plaster ceiling features a modillion cornice, and a semi-circular arched window lights the stairwell. Other rooms retain 18th-century panelled doors and cupboards.

A prominent landmark, Northwall House overlooks The Butts and the market area.