Choir House

Choir House is a terraced house, originally two separate dwellings, now part of the residential accommodation for the King’s School. The house dates back to the 16th century and was extended and remodelled in the early 19th century, with further additions and alterations made later. The right-hand wing may have been re-fronted between 1836 and 1875. A rear range is older and retains some remnants of timber-framing to the rear (east) gables, overlooking Castle Place. The house is constructed of painted brick with a plain clay tile roof, and has a roughcast gable to the right. Brick stacks feature oversailing detail and pots, and the windows have stone sills.

The elevation combines two distinct elements. The left-front section continues the design of the adjacent number 2, but projects slightly forward. It is three storeys high, with two first-floor windows, each a paired side-hung 3-pane casement in plain reveals with sills, and cambered heads. Similar openings are at ground-floor level, with a transom-light above a 4-pane fixed window. A 6/6 sash window is located on the second floor with a sill and plain reveals. The right-front section is two storeys and has attics. The stucco detailing includes a moulded sill band and a moulded cornice to the heads of the attic windows. A similar cornice mould sits above the cambered heads of the ground-floor windows. All windows are 6/6 sashes in plain reveals with cambered heads, except for the attic windows, which are 6/1 sashes with square heads. Two stone steps lead to the entrance at the left, to a 6-panel door with raised and fielded panels. The overlight and sidelight have square leaded-light glazing. The doorcase features fluted pilasters, a pulvinated frieze and cornice.

The interior includes polychromatic ceramic floor tiles in the hall. Early 19th-century joinery features panelled doors in moulded architraves, a dog-leg staircase with stick balusters and turned newels, and a mid-18th-century panelled dado to the stair hall. Early 19th-century panelled cupboards are located on the ground floor to the right. The 16th-century right-hand range exhibits cased beams and a 4-bay collar-truss roof with straight corner bracing and trenched purlins.

Choir House is part of a significant group of buildings that contribute to the setting of Worcester Cathedral to the south. The rear boundary wall to numbers 2-6 College Green forms part of the Monastic Precinct Wall, which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.