26-32, FRIAR STREET

House and shop, now restaurant, at 26-32 Friar Street, Worcester. The building comprises two structures erected at different periods. The southern part (left) dates from the late 15th or early 16th century, while the northern section (right) was built in the mid-16th century, with further additions and interior decorations dating from around 1580-1600. The property was probably built for the Hughes family.

The building is timber-framed with plaster infill over wattle and daub, with a plain tile roof featuring an off-centre left ridge and rear brick stacks with oversailing courses and chimney pots.

The plan comprises a southern cross wing two bays deep with a gable end facing the street, a further two-bay section parallel to the street containing a cross-passage at its north end, and a northern cross wing. An additional range runs parallel to the central range. The structure stands two storeys high with an attic in the left (south) gable, spanning four bays.

The timber framing displays large square panels with five large tension braces to the first floor. The first floor is jettied with bressumer beams, and the second floor at the north has a jetty to the gable. The frieze above the ground floor window of the south cross wing contains pairs of scrolls. The first floor features three replacement multi-pane leaded-light casement windows, with a similar window to the north gable. Sprocket eaves are present at the centre. The ground floor has three entrances (off-centre right, left, and far right), fitted with plank doors. Exposed timber framing panels are visible to the rear.

Extensive timber framing survives in the interior, with some renewed timbers reusing old material. The roof trusses of the cross wing feature clasped purlins with three queen posts and exposed rafters. A staircase is positioned to the rear of the stack. Close studding appears on first-floor partition walls, and jowled posts are present throughout. At the ground floor's south end, the parlour ceiling is painted with scrolled stems bearing leaves and strawberries rendered in the spaces between the joists, with the joists coloured red.

The building history is complex. The southern cross wing forms part of a former separate two-bay structure, of which the left part has been demolished. Only two roof trusses of the original cross wing survive. This southerly wing probably contained the shop, a room behind, and two chambers above. The shop featured a large window with a central mullion, and holes near the sill in the studs once held dowels that acted as hinges for falling shutters which opened outward to form a table. The first-floor window of the cross wing originally projected, supported by two brackets. The central section and northern cross wing form a separate structure. The painted interior decoration is a notable survival from an urban property of this period.

The central section contained a cross passage at its north end providing access to the rear and a hall with chambers above. The earliest known owner was Francis Hughes (died 1614), brewer and surgeon. Probably during his occupancy the shop was converted into a parlour with wainscot and a painted ceiling in the mid-16th century. The Hughes family appear to have occupied the property before Francis; Lay Subsidy Rolls record a 'John Ewes, taylor' in the area around 1526-44, succeeded by Thomas Highe. The timber structure now standing represents only part of the original building, which extended both south and north (over the sites of numbers 22 and 24), of which no evidence remains.

Friar Street originated as a rear access lane for High Street buildings until the foundation of the Franciscan Friary in 1235. The friary buildings occupied the stretch between numbers 11-25. The south end of the street developed first, with plots dating from the mid-14th century; plots at the north end date from the early 15th century. Many existing houses date from the Reformation period following the suppression of the Friary in 1539, when its property was sold by the Crown to the Corporation of Worcester, which demolished much for building materials. Building continued from around 1540 onwards, with modifications made during the 17th century and replacement of several older buildings during the 18th century. The street was inhabited mainly by tradesmen: weavers, clothiers, brewers and innkeepers.