Entrance Gateway And Walling To Former Christs Hospital Site

HERTFORD

TL3212NE FORE STREET 817-1/17/95 (North side) 10/02/50 Entrance Gateway and walling to former Christ's Hospital site

GV II

Gateway with piers, gates, footgates and attached walls, including continuation of wall eastwards along Fore Street frontage. Late C17/early C18, with C20 replacement elements. Wrought-iron gates in Portland stone piers, architraves and copings to red brick, laid to Flemish Bond, with overburnt headers; continuation of wall in orange-red brickwork, also Flemish Bond, with buttresses, plat band, and tumbled brick coping. Square piers either side of the central gateway have plinths with torus mouldings, caps with oversailing cornices, above which are moulded bases, each surmounted by a statue of a Bluecoat Boy in uniform, fibre-glass replicas of the original cast-lead statues which were removed in 1986. The piers have inner responds, with small scroll volutes, to which are attached wrought-iron gates, with intermediate scrollwork band, and scrollwork tops with raised centre, on their outer flank. The piers are joined to the copings of the adjacent walls by large scrollwork volutes, with brick responds below, having stone band and plinth block. At left and right are footgates, with recessed wrought-iron gates with intermediate scrollwork bands corresponding to those on the main gates, set in banded architrave surrounds with carved cartouche keyblocks bearing the City of London arms. The left (west) side of the wall, which has a plain stone coping, is truncated by The Lodge (No.131, Fore Street (qv)). To the right it continues for an additional bay, with a recessed panel, and flush plinth, and plat band below coping. Beyond this the wall continues eastward at a lower level for approx 25m. HISTORICAL NOTE: the gateway is the axial entrance into the Christ's Hospital site, acquired in 1683. It is recorded that the statues were set up in 1689, although the piers may have been rebuilt in their present form in the early C18. The courtyard beyond was originally flanked by dormitory terraces at either side with the School Hall placed on the axial termination at the far end. The original dormitories were demolished c1900 and replaced by 8 dormitory houses in 1904-6. These were converted to office use after the school vacated the site in 1984. The name 'Bluecoat Court' commemorates 301 years occupancy of the site by Christ's Hospital, 1683-1984.

(Turnor L: History of Hertford: Hertford: 1830-: 323-331; Victoria History of the Counties of England: Hertfordshire: London: 1902-1912: 491; Hope Bagenal: The Georgian and Post Georgian Buildings of Hertford: 1929-: 10-11).

Listing NGR: TL3297912720