John of Gaunt's Palace, Lincoln

Portrait of John of Gaunt wearing his coat of arms on his tabard.

The house was probably constructed in the late 14th century, and its form represents a wealthy merchant's town house with a hall and services parallel to the High Street, and an east-west range to the rear of the street front range which contained the great hall and privy chambers. There was also a possible lodgings block to the north of the main street front range, which had the arms of John of Gaunt along with other heraldic shields shown above the doors. This lodging block may have accommodated John of Gaunt during his visit to Lincoln in 1386.

The Old Hospital, Lincoln, at the back of John of Gaunt's Palace; since demolished.

A drawing by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm shows a building described as the Old Hospital abutting on to the hall range with its two fine late medieval windows. These buildings were on the west side behind the High Street frontage of the palace. The Hospital building should date from around 1500, and the lozenge-shaped terminals to the doorway and the sunken panels to the spandrels find a very close parallel with the Chancery, in Minster Yard, Lincoln.[4] This is probably the building that Edward James Willson mentions as having been demolished around 1810 and it is not shown on J. S. Padley's survey of Lincoln in 1842.[5]

John of Gaunt's palace was substantially re-built in 1849, becoming an "ordinary-looking stone-built property" which survived until the 1960s, when it was demolished to make way for a garage extension. One of the hall windows, recorded by Edward James Willson, did survive into the 1940s. A series of stone foundations and walls aligned east-west and north-south were recorded in February 2008, during trial trenching at 116 High Street, Lincoln. It is likely that these relate to John of Gaunt's Palace. The earliest phase of wall construction may represent an earlier building demolished to make way for the merchant's house in the later 14th century. Pottery of 13th-15th century date was recovered.[6]

Colonel Bromhead's House, High Street, Lincoln c 1784

Grimm also records another building just to the north of the palace which he describes as "Colonel Bromhead's House". This fronts onto the High Street. This is an interesting example of the Lincolnshire Artisan Mannerist style of house building of the mid-17th century. It was built of brick for Alderman Original Peart in 1646, and was one of the earliest examples of brick building in Lincoln. It passed from him to the Bromhead family.[7]

To the south of John of Gaunt's Palace was St Andrew's Church, and to the south of this, over the entrance to Gaunt Street and on the site of the former Lincoln Arms, stood a Norman house known as St Andrew's Hall. Just before its demolition in 1783 it was recorded by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm. His drawing shows that it was very similar to the Jew's House and the Norman House on the Straight and Steep Hill in Lincoln. His drawing also shows that St Andrew's Hall was immediately adjacent to St Andrew's Cottages, which are a row of shops that are still standing.[8] The Grade II* listed Romanesque door arch of St Andrew's Hall, dating from about 1150, salvaged during demolition in 1783, was re-sited in 1907 in the former Lincoln Arms, now Bang and Olufsen. It is situated in a first-floor rear room and is constructed of limestone. The outer arch has a complex double chevron moulding enhanced by an early form of dogtooth moulding.The inner arch has keeled roll moulding flanked by quirks and hollows.[9]

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  St Andrew's Hall, Wigford, Lincoln by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm, before demolition in 1783
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  St Andrew's Row, High Street, Lincoln
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  Former Lincoln Arms, the site of St Andrew's Hall, adjacent to St Andrew's Row and Gaunt Street