The Fleece Hotel, 19, 19A, and 21 Westgate Street

The Fleece Hotel is a medieval inn and shops complex comprising three ranges of buildings arranged around a courtyard on the south side of Westgate Street. The complex dates from the 15th century but incorporates a 12th-century undercroft and has been altered in the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The street-front range faces north onto Westgate Street, with the former kitchen range (known as the west range) extending southwards behind it. The great inn range lies on the opposite side of the courtyard, behind the current 17 Westgate Street, running north-south with an additional room at its south-west corner. Various outbuildings stand to the south and east, and the buildings abut neighbouring properties to east and west.

The Undercroft

Constructed in the 1180s, this 12th-century undercroft runs along the eastern boundary of the plot beneath the great inn range. Built of stone, it was designed to be only partly subterranean, allowing external access from the courtyard to the west—an arrangement that appears original.

The undercroft has a rectangular plan running north-south with an entrance in the west wall. It abuts the adjacent building to the east. Small sections of the external wall are visible above ground on the west elevation, though mostly obscured by later work. A short length of external wall can be seen within the neighbouring building's cellar, constructed in random rubble stone.

Six bays survive, the structure having been truncated and rebuilt at the northern end. The bays are roughly equal in length except for the fourth from the south, which is wider and indicates the original entrance bay. The current entrance descends by steps from the adjacent courtyard within the rebuilt northern section. The long east and west walls and the original south wall are constructed in squared and coursed stone, divided into bays by pairs of engaged columns supporting the ribs of a segmental-arched vault. The columns along the western wall slope outwards as they rise, probably due to early movement in the wall. Moulded bases survive on some engaged columns, showing that the floor level remains unchanged. The capitals are concave with squared caps.

The east wall is otherwise plain. The west wall has recesses within each bay, four showing evidence of splayed window openings set above the contemporary external ground level. A winding stone stair stands against the eastern wall of the sixth bay, rising to the ground floor of the great inn range above. The south wall is original and contains a 12th-century doorway under a deep stone lintel with chamfered lower edge, giving access to a narrow intramural stair. The first four stone steps survive. This stair likely provided access to the upper floors of the 12th-century building.

The original northern extent is unknown but may have extended at least two bays beyond the existing fabric. The current northern end, about two bays long, is constructed from stone rubble and includes a segmental arched recess in the northern wall. The structure is ceiled over with a large chamfered ceiling beam and joists associated with the timber-framed building above. A window opening in the west wall is interpreted as part of the 15th-century work to construct the great inn range above.

The Great Inn Range (19 Westgate Street)

Built in the late 1470s, the great inn range stands partly above the 12th-century undercroft. It is constructed of timber frame with wattle and daub infill under slate roofs, with some brick in the external walling. The main range runs north-south behind 17 Westgate Street, forming a reverse L-plan with a later cross wing at the south-western corner.

The building is of two storeys and six bays, with a one-bay cross wing attached at the south-western corner. The principal west elevation of the main range is largely rendered. The gabled cross wing has rendered infill panels between visible square framing over a high stone plinth. The ground floor has a partial pent roof over windows including a 20th-century bay window, a 19th-century extended window bay with canted window, and a broad bow window occupying one entire bay, also from the 19th century. Upper floor windows, all later insertions, respect openings in the frame.

The 15th-century great inn range was built as a large two-storey six-bay structure partially sitting over the truncated 12th-century undercroft. Five bays survive—the northernmost bay was demolished in connection with redevelopment of 17 Westgate Street to the north. The surviving frames bear carpenters' marks, with the southernmost numbered VII and the northernmost marked III. Part of what must be frame II is embedded in the north wall dividing this range from the rear of 17 Westgate Street. Open frames within rooms have curved up-braces between wall posts and cross beams. Ground floor ceilings comprise squared joists running north-south along each bay.

The principal ground floor as originally built appears to have included a large three-bay room at the northern end, a slightly smaller two-bay room to its south, and the southernmost bay with a service function providing access to the undercroft via its intramural stair. The northernmost room has been truncated at its northern end and two bays survive. This room lies north of the truncated undercroft end and was set level with external ground level, with the remainder of the range about half a metre higher to accommodate the only partly subterranean undercroft.

The northern room has a heavily-moulded cross beam and similarly moulded post to the west, indicating it was the highest status space, with evidence in the framing for an oriel window on the western side. A substantial partition divided this space from the room to the south, surviving within frame IV with some later alteration to the eastern end. The partition includes three doorways and might imply a corridor arrangement along the western side of the range. The western wall has been partly removed to allow construction of a wide bow window in this room.

The room to the south lies between frames IV and VI, with frame VI showing evidence of having formed part of a further partition. The timbers are simply decorated with chamfers and runouts to the open frame V, indicating lower status than the northern room. The west wall has been removed between the two northern frames to create a large bay window. The partition associated with frame VI no longer exists but is inferred from mortices in the chamfered cross beam of frame VII, leaving a further narrow one-bay room at the far south with a service function, now allowing access up steps into the 17th-century cross wing. These two rooms have a continuous flagstone floor above the vaulting of the undercroft below. A surviving section of timber framing in the west wall shows that besides access to the narrow intramural stair to the undercroft, this room had a doorway to an external stair to the courtyard beyond, or a predecessor to the extant cross wing. A trimmer beam in this bay implies a staircase to the upper floor.

The first floor shows greater survival of the external square framing. Main posts to east and west are jowled to support tie beams and wall plates. Open frames have up-braces to tie beams, and closed frames have longer down-braces forming structural elements of partitions and tying them to cross beams below. The space was divided into four rooms: two two-bay rooms to the centre and single bay rooms to north and south, with doorways again implying a western corridor. Only one partition, in frame VI, survives.

The roof structure is consistent over the whole range, each truss formed from paired principal rafters, tie beams and collars with queen struts between tie beams and collars. There is a single row of purlins to each slope, clasped between collars and principals, and a single row of windbraces to each slope. Most common rafters also survive. All first-floor rooms were originally open to the roof structure; the existing ceiling structure of closely-set joists probably dates from the 16th century. Evidence across the building shows a 16th-century plain red paint scheme, and joists in the southern bay retain some evidence of a possible alternate red and yellow paint scheme.

The cross wing to the south-west has a single room on each of the ground and first floors, reached by two or three steps from the main range to account for differences in floor level. These have deeply-chamfered ceiling beams with stepped and scrolled stops. The ground floor has been more altered with numerous internal partitions and a stair to the first floor which also gives access to the main range.

The Detached Kitchen Range (West Range)

Built in the late 1470s, the west range formed a detached kitchen range associated with the great inn range, standing to the rear of the slightly earlier street-front range (19A and 21 Westgate Street). It is timber framed with some brick rebuilding under a slate roof.

The rectangular range runs north-south behind 19A and 21 Westgate Street. At the north-east corner, set against the rear of 19A Westgate Street, is a small projecting corner bay.

The short visible portion of the east elevation is part rendered, part painted brick. Current access is via the southernmost bay under an inserted concrete lintel. Fenestration is irregular with casement windows of various dates. The deep roof is steeply pitched. A central brick-built stack emerges just west of the ridge. The north-east corner bay is gabled to the south with a first-floor window opening containing a 20th-century metal-framed window. The bay is jettied out over the passageway from Westgate Street, from where the underside of the jetty beams are visible. The jetty spans only part of the current width of the passage. This corner bay's function is uncertain but it might have controlled access to the courtyard given its position alongside the main access from Westgate Street.

The ground floor has been greatly altered and no visible timber framing remains, either replaced or covered by later finishes. The entrance currently gives access into the former smoke bay and the location of the original entrance is no longer evident. A modern stair within this bay rises to the first floor, which has much higher survival. The four cross-frames are numbered I to IIII on their northern faces, with I to the north. The northern and central bays each constituted a single room, with frame II showing evidence of having been closed below the tie beam with a possible doorway on the eastern side. A massive stone-built chimney stack, possibly added in the 16th century, now stands at this point forming a partial closure of the frame.

The central room retains an axial ceiling beam with deep chamfers and stepped stops, probably from the 17th century, running between frames II and III. This room and that to the north have projecting timber brackets in their 19th-century rebuilt west wall, supporting the wall plate formerly shared as a party wall with the adjacent building at 23 Westgate Street. The northern room ends at frame I, now open to the rear wall of the street-front range. This includes a doorway with a 17th-century plank door from the first-floor room in 21 Westgate Street through to the first floor of the west range, indicating that from this period at least part of the street-front range was in use as part of The Fleece.

South of these two principal rooms, the smoke bay between frames III and IIII would have been open from ground floor to roof. The northern face of frame IIII and the southern face of the closed truss above frame III show clear evidence of smoke blackening where original surfaces remain, as do the exposed roof timbers. The west range's 15th-century roof survives largely intact: trusses are similar to those in both the great inn range and the street-front range, formed from paired principal rafters with tie beams and queen struts rising to support the collar, and clasped purlins. The majority of the 15th-century common rafters also survive.

The small corner bay appears to have had a single small room on each floor, the first-floor room being larger as it is jettied out over the passageway. To the first floor, much walling has been replaced in brick but surviving elements of the timber frame remain to the north, south and west sides, and the roof structure with paired common rafters and large curved wind braces remains intact.

The Street-Front Range (19A and 21 Westgate Street)

This range of commercial units with accommodation above was constructed in the late 1470s along Westgate Street. The surviving part formed two of the original five bays inferred from the evidence of the fabric. It is timber framed with brick refronting and faux timber framing, with Roman tile front roof slope and slate to rear.

The range is of two bays and a passage running east-west along the Westgate Street frontage. At the east end it adjoins 17 Westgate Street, which replaced the remainder of the 15th-century street front range in the 19th century.

The main elevation to Westgate Street is of two bays and three storeys with additional cellarage under 21 Westgate Street. The left bay (19A Westgate Street), which forms the west side of the passageway to the rear of the plot occupied by the other Fleece complex buildings, has an early 20th-century ground floor shop front with recessed doorway to the left and panelled partition to the passage, plate-glass window with multi-paned transom glazing and flat fielded fascia. Above this each floor has a three-light box window with multi-paned casements and a wide 20th-century dormer set behind the cornice. The upper floors are clad in faux timber framing.

The adjacent bay (21 Westgate Street) has a late 19th-century shop front with central lobby, plate glass over low stall risers, pilasters and fluted cornice, and timber fascia. The upper floors are, like 19A, clad in faux timber framing. Each upper floor has a six-over-six sash window from the 19th century. The rear elevation is obscured by the west range.

The ground-floor spaces, each now a single room, were divided to create rooms to front and rear, probably a shop space accessible from the street and a more private room behind. The finishes to the ground floor of 19A Westgate Street date from the 20th century. 21 Westgate Street has stone flag floors and retains evidence of trimmed-back jetties created when the building was refronted in brick. The upper floors were unpartitioned on each floor. The timber framed partition between the two units has brick infill and a slender inserted lateral stack between the northern rooms. Trimmer beams within the 15th-century horizontal divisions, formed from chamfered beams and square-section joists, show that each unit had a stair in its south-east corner to give access to upper floors. A modern stair now stands against the rear wall of the range in 21 Westgate Street.

The second floor was open to the roof, which takes the same form as that in the other 15th-century buildings: paired principal rafters with tie beams and queen struts rising to support the collar, and clasped purlins. 21 Westgate Street retains part of a geometric painted scheme to the ground and first floors, tentatively dated to the 18th century, which includes a white-painted ceiling with a pattern of black triangles.