East Gate and St Peter’s Chapel, and the attached section of town wall, Warwick, Warwickshire

Summary

East Gate and St Peter’s Chapel, and the remains of the town wall, originating in the C14, with C15 rebuilding, and C18 and C19 alterations.

Description

East Gate and St Peter’s Chapel, and the remains of the town wall, originating in the C14, with C15 rebuilding, and C18 and C19 alterations.

MATERIALS: constructed primarily from sandstone ashlar, and with contrasting limestone details, brick and tile. The roof is slate.

PLAN: the building is located at the junctions of The Butts, Smith Street, Castle Hill and Jury Street, and would have provided entrance into the former walled-town to the west. It has two arched passageways, one for vehicles, one for pedestrians, running roughly east-west.

The gate abuts the school buildings to the north, and the remains of the town wall, which stand approximately 1.5m thick, 3.2m tall, extend for 13m to the north-west, embedded within the later building and with a seating terrace on top.

EXTERIOR: the building consists of a wide gateway containing an arched passageway for vehicles, and a lower, narrower passage for pedestrians. It is surmounted by the chapel, which stands set back behind the gate’s crenellated parapet. A remnant of the town wall extends to the north; the wall to the south is not extant.

On the west elevation, the wide arched carriageway opening has chamfered voussoirs, and above, there is a course of machicolations and a cornice beneath the crenellated parapet. The arch is flanked by wide, almost buttress-like jambs, with a tall offset plinth, and quatrefoil mouldings in the parapet. The crenellations continue around the southern side of the building, and there are decorative cruciform arrow loops. The east side of the arch is similar, without the machicolations, and with a blank shield at the apex of the opening. Beneath the arch, breaks in the masonry indicate a number of phases of construction. The pedestrian passage is to the north; lower than the carriageway arch, and with chamfered openings on both sides. Within the passage is a blocked doorway, presumably providing access to a stair.

Above, aligned with the centre of the carriageway arch, stands the chapel; it has a tower to the west, and nave to the east, and a lower north wing above the pedestrian arch. It is recessed from the parapet to the gateway, creating a walkway around its perimeter. The tower is square, with slight offset angle buttresses and intermittent cornicing forming three stages. In the lowest is a window with Y-tracery and a lancet; above is a clock, and the upper stage terminates in a crenellated parapet with crocketted corner pinnacles. There is a square turret with paired louvred cusped lancets, pinnacles and an ogee roof with a spike finial. The clock face is a square set on the diagonal, with gold numerals and detailing. The nave is three bays, the wide, central one of which projects slightly from the building line. The outer bays have pairs of trefoil lights, and the central window has fours lights. There is a dressed stone string course, which rises around the points of arched openings. There is a cornice, and a crenellated parapet. The west gable of the nave is crow-stepped with angle pinnacles, a cross finial, and a clock. The four-light east window has transoms of ironstone. Glazing, largely, is leaded. The roof is pitched and covered in slate. The lower north wing, dating from approximately 1800, is also crenellated, and has multiple lancets with chamfered stone mullions and transoms, within rectangular frames with hood-moulds.

On the west side of the building adjacent to the pedestrian passage, the wall steps out and continues to the north, enclosing the external stair to the chapel. The wall is in roughly-coursed, dressed stone, much of which is heavily weathered. A doorway into the stair compartment has an arched head, chamfered architrave and timber plank door. The stair, which has brick risers and worn stone treads, rises between the external wall and the old town wall. The old town wall is constructed from large blocks of coursed stone, and has a paved concrete terrace along the top.

INTERIOR: entrance, from the base of the tower, leads into a narrow lobby. Most joinery is modern, though a historic ceiling panel survives. The masonry of the construction is left exposed, and there are various brick and tile insertions and repairs. The openings are chamfered. The lobby leads to a hall, with access to the north wing, a stair, a kitchen and the nave.

The nave, originally a single, double-height space, is now two-storeyed. On the lower floor it is open-plan with a small area partitioned to form a kitchen. The floor is flagged, and there is a fireplace (inserted) in the north-east corner; wearing of the adjacent flags suggests the presence of a copper. The window openings have been built up, and consequently reduced in size; the windows themselves are extant and recessed behind the later walling. The ceiling is supported on a series of deep beams with chamfers and stops. Within the small kitchen there is a chimneybreast, now blocked, concealing a range. There are cupboards on either side of the chimneybreast.

The stair is an enclosed dogleg. It ascends to the upper storey lobby, and a doorway into the tower. The door is ledge and plank, with historic ironmongery, and when opened, neatly closes the opening to the stair. Ladders and hatches within the tower rise to the clock mechanism. A wall with roughly-hewn studs encloses the top of the stair, and opposite, a small bathroom has been inserted. Most doors and joinery were inserted in the early-C21 renovation.

The principal space within the upper storey is open to the roof, which is supported on collar trusses with raking struts and arched braces and two tiers of purlins. The roof-space beyond the easternmost truss is ceiled and contains the mechanism for the east-gable clock. The floor is boarded.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: to the left of the western carriageway opening is a polished pink granite water fountain built into the plinth. It is inscribed ‘1859 / PRESENTED BY / RICHARD GREAVES’.

History

The centre of Warwick had been enclosed by walls by at least the beginning of the C14. Three gates, at the north, east and west provided access; of these, only the latter two survive. The North Gate, along with the majority of the town walls, had been demolished by the early C16.

The east gate is likely have been instated when the walls were first constructed. It was then either strengthened or rebuilt in the early C15, when St Peter’s Chapel was built upon it. By 1576 the chapel was described as 'ruinous and ready to fall', and was given to Bailiff and Burgess of Warwick for ‘educational purposes’. The grammar school is believed to have begun using the building the following year, until, in 1590 it moved into other premises and the building was let as living accommodation, in which use it remained for much of the C17. In 1700 it was adapted to form a school room, with accommodation built above for the master. A turret and clock were given to the school by Warwick draper Fulke Weale by will of 1729.

The chapel and gate were substantially remodelled in the late C18. It is commonly purported that the chapel, in 1788, was rebuilt in the Gothic style by Francis Hiorne. However, Pevsner notes that Warwick Corporation records tell a different story, referring to work at East Gate in 1774-6 and 1790, with Hiorne being mentioned only in 1776. A painting depicting the building prior to the remodelling suggests that the general form and massing were replicated in the redesign, but that gothic enrichments were made, and historicist defensive features such as battlements, machicolations and arrow loops were added. It was probably at around this time that the diversion of the roadway to the south was constructed. The top of the tower was renewed in 1879. The building was sold in 2010 and comprehensively restored.

Reasons for Listing

East Gate, St Peter’s Chapel and the attached section of town wall are listed at Grade I, for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* retaining a significant proportion of medieval fabric, particularly within the gateway and the section of town wall;

* externally a Gothick confection, uniting the robust gateway and more elegant chapel, and exemplifying the flamboyance of the style in the period;

* the C18 remodelling emphasises the relationship with the castle, introducing features very probably derived from the nearby structure;

* internally subdivided, representing the change from ecclesiastical to educational and domestic use.

Historic interest:

* one of two surviving gates, and one of the last remnants of town wall, providing evidence the C14 fortification of the town;

* an early example of a building dedicated for use as an educational establishment.

Group value:

* with several adjacent listed buildings and structures, and forming a landmark within the town centre.

External Links

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