Grange Court
| Grange Court | |
|---|---|
Grange Court in November 2013
|
|
| Former names | The Butter Crosse |
| General information | |
| Type | Market hall |
| Address | Pinsley Road |
| Town or city | Leominster |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 52°13′40″N 2°44′05″W / 52.22772°N 2.73481°WCoordinates: 52°13′40″N 2°44′05″W / 52.22772°N 2.73481°W |
| Completed | 1633 |
| Renovated |
|
| Owner | LARC Development Trust |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Timber frame |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | John Abel |
| Designations | Grade II* listed |
| Website | |
| www |
|
Grange Court is a former market hall in Leominster, Herefordshire, England. It was built in 1633 by John Abel, and moved to its present location in 1859. It was then used as a private house until the 1930s, and is now once again a civic building.
The timber-framed building is extravagantly decorated with carvings, including mermaids, angels, animals, flowers and grotesque people. The entablature above the columns includes a number of carved texts. These read:
When built by John Abel in 1633, the market hall was open at ground level, being supported on twelve oak columns. It was known as "the Butter Crosse". It has a stone tile roof, a bellcote, and a weathervane dated 1687.
The market house originally stood on the site of an earlier market building, at the junction of Broad Street, High Street, Church Street, Drapers' Lane, High Street and Burgess Street. In addition to public meetings, it was used for meetings of the town's nine guilds (bakers, butchers, dyers, glovers, mercers, shoemakers, tailors, walkers (fullers) and weavers) and Quarter Session courts, and the town council met there from 1750.
Eventually, congestion caused by the building's location at an important junction led to calls for its removal. The building was dismantled and stored in the mid-1850s.
It was purchased at auction for £95 by John Hungerford Arkwright, who offered the building to the council if they would re-erect it, but they refused. He moved the building himself and rebuilt it near the priory church in 1859. In the process, the ground floor was enclosed, a three-storey brick extension added at the rear, and the roof replaced.
At some point two terracotta panels by the Leominster sculptor William Storr-Barber (died 1934) were added to the interior.
...
Wikipedia