The De Grey Rooms is a building in the city of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, England. It was built in 1841-1842 and is a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

The building

Construction

The De Grey Rooms were built by public subscription at the instigation of

Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey Thomas Philip de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey, 3rd Baron Grantham, 6th Baron Lucas, KG, PC, FRS (born Robinson, later Weddell; 8 December 178114 November 1859), styled as The Hon. Thomas Robinson until 1786 and as Lord Grantham from 1786 to 1833, of ...

, Commanding Officer of the

Yorkshire Hussars The Yorkshire Hussars (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own) was an auxiliary unit of the British Army formed in 1794. The regiment was formed as volunteer cavalry (Yeomanry) in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars and served in the Second Boe ...

, to provide a place for the Regiment's Annual Mess and to supplement accommodation at the

Assembly Rooms In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done at home and there were ...

. The building is located on the western edge of

St Leonard's Place St Leonard's Place is a street in the city centre of York, in England. History The site street lay mostly within the walls of Roman Eboracum, and two Anglo-Saxon carved stones and a large coin hoard have been discovered in excavations in the ...

, York, England. It joins onto the western face of De Grey House (built 1835). It faces the

York Art Gallery York Art Gallery is a public art gallery in York, England, with a collection of paintings from 14th-century to contemporary, prints, watercolours, drawings, and ceramics. It closed for major redevelopment in 2013, reopening in summer of 2015. T ...

. During its construction, on 23 April 1842 workmen digging a drain discovered a hoard of Anglo-Saxon coins, later named the St Leonard's Place hoard One of the workmen said that the hoard had been contained in a clay vessel, which was broken when a pickaxe struck it.

Design

The building was designed by the architect

George Townsend Andrews George Townsend Andrews (19 December 1804 – 29 December 1855) was an English architect born in Exeter. He is noted for his buildings designed for George Hudson's railways, especially the York and North Midland Railway. Andrews' architect's p ...

. It was intended to be used as a ballroom, concert hall, and for meetings. It is two storeys in height, with a basement below, built in brick and with a cement-rendered front elevation in a neo-classical style. There are seven large windows on the front, with a carriageway beneath the left one. A narrow balcony on the first floor is bordered by iron railings, and there are larger railing at ground level. File:Interior of De Grey House, York (1).jpg File:Interior of De Grey House, York (2).jpg File:Candelabra at De Grey House, York.jpg

History and use

The building was used for military social events initially. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and afterwards the ballroom was used for public dances. In the early 2000s the ground floor was used as a tourist information centre for York. On 31 March 2005, the De Grey Rooms were purchased from the

City of York Council City of York Council is the municipal governing body of the City of York, a unitary authority in Yorkshire, England. It is composed of 47 councillors, one, two, or three for each of the 21 electoral wards of York. It is responsible for all local ...

by the

York Conservation Trust The York Conservation Trust is a trust that buys and restores significant historical buildings in York, England, and then makes them available to rent. It was originally an initiative of former Lord Mayor John Bowes Morrell, who started acquiring ...

in order to "preserve the buildings for posterity as significant repairs and renovations were required to be carried out". The Trust leased it to

York Theatre Royal York Theatre Royal is a theatre in St Leonard's Place, in York, England, which dates back to 1744. The theatre currently seats 750 people. Whilst the theatre is traditionally a proscenium theatre, it was reconfigured for a season in 2011 to offer ...

, who used some of it for storage of costumes and sets. The building closed in March 2020 during the

COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England are NHS England and Public ...

. The site was again used by the Theatre to host rehearsals in 2022. The cast of ''The Bone Sparrow'' rehearsed in a

bubble Bubble, Bubbles or The Bubble may refer to: Common uses * Bubble (physics), a globule of one substance in another, usually gas in a liquid ** Soap bubble * Economic bubble, a situation where asset prices are much higher than underlying fundame ...

before the premier in February 2022.

References

{{commons category, De Grey Rooms, York, De Grey Rooms Grade II* listed buildings in York Buildings and structures completed in 1842 Ballrooms in the United Kingdom