St John's Court

St John's Court is a terrace of three 17th-century almshouses built using fabric from the earlier medieval Hospital of St John. The buildings are constructed from limestone rubble with stone dressings and have a stone slate roof.

The terrace is situated on the eastern side of St John’s Street, running roughly north to south and comprising three rectangular units, numbered 1 to 3. Each unit is a single storey with an attic, and has two rooms in depth. The west elevation, which faces onto St John’s Street, has three bays, each with a full-width dormer gable containing a three-light mullioned window with leaded glass on both floors, protected by a timber lintel and slate sills. The gable end to the south, which is the southern end of the terrace, features a re-set late Norman arch with splayed sides and two orders springing from shaped corbels; the outer order has a roll moulding and the inner order has hexagons with lozenges. The archway is blocked and contains a replacement three-light window, with a raised drip mould and lancet above. In the gable above the archway is a reset late 12th-century stilted arch on columns, surrounding a square panel with pilasters and a cornice and inscribed to record the 1694 endowment by Michael Weekes.

A rebuilt archway, located in the adjacent building at 3 St John’s Bridge, provides access to a passageway that leads to the rear courtyard and incorporates a doorway to the southernmost house, number 1. The east elevation is partially obscured by the adjacent building on the ground floor of the southernmost bay, with a dormer adjoining its gable. Numbers 2 and 3 face onto the rear courtyard, each featuring a replacement door and a two-light leaded casement window on the ground floor; a continuous timber lintel runs at impost level. The northernmost unit, number 3, has a full-width dormer gable, while number 2 features a hipped dormer within the roof.

The interior of the buildings has not been inspected, but it is understood to retain chamfered spine beams with run-out stops, and open fireplaces with oak lintels.