Churchgate House

Churchgate House, West Street, Ware

This is a house, now converted to shop and workshop with flats above. It dates from the 15th century, with alterations made in the 16th century and subsequent extensions. The building comprises several ranges arranged around a small central courtyard.

The structure is timber-framed with colourwashed pebbledash and a cement plinth. It has old tile roofs with a gable end at the south-east corner and irregularly spaced chimneystacks of red and yellow brick dating from the 19th century, featuring oversailing courses.

The exterior is of two storeys. A continuous first floor jetty runs along the main east elevation facing the path to the churchyard and extends along the south elevation to West Street itself. The south-east corner, where the jetty changes direction, is marked by a heavy timber exposed dragon post with roll moulding. The projecting joist ends above are covered by a timber fascia.

The first floor contains three flush-set sash windows with exposed boxes and small panes on the east elevation, and three windows on the south including one of mid-18th-century date with heavy quadrant glazing bars. The ground floor features an early 20th-century shopfront on the left of the east elevation with elaborate carved console brackets beneath the jetty, two closed plate glass windows with pierced cast-iron strip vents above and timber frames, a central arcaded half-glazed door set between twin pilasters, and a subsidiary shop entry to the right with a small plate glass window, half-glazed door, and curved bracket support to the jetty above. Further closed windows line West Street beneath the jetty, and twin modern boarded doors provide access to the central courtyard. The north range is plastered and part brick, with an old tiled roof, two storeys, and returns along the path south of the churchyard.

The interior reveals different stages of construction and alteration. The south-east cross-wing originally extended two bays along West Street. The original end wall and the party wall to No.16 adjacent retain sections of combed pargeting indicating 17th-century infilling. The south-east range has a two-bay crown post roof, indicating 15th-century construction. The north-east range partly oversails the south-east range, with a gablet appearing above the ridge of the latter's roof. Substantial tie-beams are exposed at first floor level. The north-east room features heavy exposed studwork and long jowled posts, with evidence for two small unglazed windows with shutter grooves and a first floor external door at the north-east corner. A crown post roof above an inserted ceiling covers this space. The north range incorporates an inserted baker's oven on the ground floor, and the floor level has been lowered. Above the first floor is a four-bay trussed rafter roof with cranked cambered tie-beams, side purlins with curved windbracing housed in the principal rafters, high level collars above, and a remnant of a braced studded partition on the centre truss. This roof overlaps the south range, which dates from the 18th century, and is also truncated at its junction with the higher north-east corner.

The building is known locally as Churchgate House. Deeds held by the Ware Charity Trustees suggest a possible early 16th-century origin as the residence of a chantry priest, who also taught at the Free Grammar School situated across the church path, now demolished. The building was subsequently used as a bakery and as the home of a brewer.