Lawrence House And Museum And Forecourt Wall

Lawrence House and Museum, Nos. 9 and 9A, Castle Street, Launceston

Town house, now museum. The building dates from 1753 (as marked by an inscription with the initials "H L"), with a wing on the right bearing a 1913 inscription. It is constructed in red brick laid to Flemish bond with keyed shallow segmental arches; the upper portions feature rubble and slate-hanging on studwork. The roof is steeply pitched rag slate with a modillion eaves cornice, and there is a gable end to the cross wing on the right, with brick end stacks on the right, an axial stack towards the right, and two lateral stacks at the rear.

The main front is two storeys plus attic over basement, arranged across a five-window range that includes a bay rebuilt in 1913 on the right. The original windows are hornless sashes with thick glazing bars. The 1913 bay on the right incorporates a Venetian window with a moulded hood to the first floor; above this is a round-headed sash with fanlight head to the attic gable, and a canted pedimented bay to the ground floor, all fitted with hornless sashes with glazing bars. A late 19th-century or 1913 pedimented porch projects from the central bay, probably marking the position of an originally symmetrical front. The porch has pilasters and consoles, with a four-panel door with four-pane overlight, and 15-pane sidelights with external ovolo mouldings to thick glazing bars. Two original pedimented roof dormers contain six-pane sashes. The basement level includes sashes with thick glazing bars and a six-panel door with flush-beaded panels beneath the porch.

The rear elevation comprises a three-window, three-bay range with a gable over each bay. The left-hand bay is a 1913 rebuild, featuring a two-light casement to the gable over a three-light casement, standing above a two-storey canted bay, all with sashes with thick glazing bars and a canted conservatory to the basement. The central bay has a three-storey canted bay with moulded cornices and sashes with thick glazing bars, probably a 20th-century copy of the original. The recessed right-hand bay retains original paired eight-pane sashes over an early to mid-19th-century canted bay with sashes with thin glazing bars, beneath which are original three-light windows with internally ovolo-moulded oak mullions and casements with thick glazing bars. A mid-19th-century conservatory with 12-pane sashes is positioned in the angle towards the right. The upper floor and gable of the central and right-hand bays are finished in slate-hanging with vertical joints and slate cover strips. A small lean-to at the far right contains a two-panel basement door and an old door accessing basement steps in front.

Interior

The interior retains many original features. The basement stair is grained with a closed string and turned balusters. The front area features fielded dado panelling, moulded ceiling cornices, and a grained chimneypiece with an egg-and-dart detail to the pulvinated frieze and an eared overmantel with scrolled head to the left-hand room. Dado panelling and moulded cornices extend to the rest of the front area. The former stair hall is fitted with Doric columns and a Doric frieze (with 1913 replica columns on the right side), and some other rooms have moulded ceiling cornices.

The rear right-hand room displays more elaborate joinery and plasterwork. It includes a doorcase with a broken pediment and a chimneypiece with a carved frieze, consoles, and a Rococo overmantel featuring a mirror and an ornate ceiling decorated with arabesques and enriched modillion ceiling cornices. The superior plasterwork is reputed to be by the same craftsmen who worked on Eagle House and Castle Hill House, both nearby. The 1913 wing contains a 18th-century chimneypiece in its rear room and an early 19th-century hob grate in the rear chamber, which may have survived from an older house formerly occupying this site. Otherwise, the 1913 wing incorporates many features that resemble the 18th-century details of the main house.

An attached brick forecourt wall surmounts the property, topped with what appears to be a 20th-century replica vase-turned balustrade.