Bishop'S Lynn House

The building at 18 Tuesday Market Place, King's Lynn, is a house, now offices, with a complex history spanning the 14th to 19th centuries. Late 14th or 15th century cellars form the foundation of the structure. Originally a single house, it was divided into two properties in the late 16th century. In 1725, the merchant William Bagge purchased the building and immediately re-fronted the south half of the facade. Around 1760, the house was combined into a single property, and in 1803-4, the northern half was rebuilt, likely by S Newham & Son. A rear wing was demolished in 1975.

The south half of the east front is constructed of red and brown brick with a slate roof and stands three stories high in five bays. A central panelled door is set within a brick doorcase featuring Tuscan pilasters and a metope frieze below a pediment. The windows are replacement recessed sash windows, possibly dating back to 1803, with glazing bars, gauged skewback arches, and brick aprons. A heavy cornice sits below the attic storey, and a parapet conceals a gabled roof. An internal gable-end stack is present. The north portion, dating from 1803-4, is made of brown brick and is three stories high in four bays, with three bays forming a full-height bow to the north. Sashes with glazing bars and gauged skewback arches are present. A parapet tops the facade, and an internal gable-end stack marks its north side.

The interior features fittings dating from around 1725-30. A passage extends from the front door to a staircase hall. The passage is lined with large-framed panelling, terminating in a panelled door beneath a six-vaned fanlight. A Kentian-style chimneypiece is found in the west wall, incorporating a central mask within a frieze flanked by acorn and leaf swags. The open string staircase has three bobbin and turned balusters on each tread with a wide, moulded, ramped, and wreathed handrail that returns to a balcony. Numerous blocked windows on the north side suggest a later rear wing was once attached. A cellar runs beneath the northern portion of the house, parallel to Page Stair Lane. This rectangular cellar features two octagonal brick piers, each supporting eight chamfered ribs arching to wall piers on polygonal bases. The wall arches are four-centred. The eastern half of the cellar has later brick partitions that obscure the original plan. An 18th-century staircase leads up to Page Stair Lane, with a door providing access.