Precentor's Court is an historic street in the English 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 ...
. Although certainly in existence by 1313,
[''York: The Making of a City 1068–1350'', Sarah Rees Jones (2013), p. 146] the street does not appear on a map until 1610, and it is not given a name (Precentor's Lane) until 1722. It was given its current name exactly a century later.
[ ''An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in City of York'', Volume 5, Central, pp. 199–212]
/ref>
It is a cul-de-sac, running northwest from High Petergate at the western end of York Minster
The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...
, in front of which the road apexes. A snickelway, known as Little Peculiar Lane, cuts through to the street, at its western end, from High Petergate.
The frontages on High Petergate were developed with commercial properties for letting. A new lane, today's Precentor's Court, was developed, dividing these commercial rents from the canons' residences to the rear.[
Around 1540, the marble and stone bases of two shrines in the Minster were dismantled and buried in what is now Precentor's Court. One was later exhumed during construction work and is now preserved in the ]Yorkshire Museum
The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It was opened in 1830, and has five permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology, numismatics and astronomy.
History
The museum was founded by the Yorkshire Philosophical Soc ...
.
The street was home to St Stephen's orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or ab ...
in the 1870s.
File:Precentor's Court from Minster Yard 2023.jpg, Looking west down the street from in front of number 1. The southern wall of Purey-Cust Lodge (right) is the only building on the northern side of the street
File:Purey-Cust gate.jpg, Gate into Purey-Cust Lodge from Precentor's Court
Notable residents
In 1763, artist Nathan Drake married and moved his painting room from Colliergate to Precentor's Court, where he remained for the rest of his life. It was there that his two sons were born: Nathan
Nathan or Natan may refer to:
People
*Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name
*Nathan (surname)
*Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible
* Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David an ...
(1766–1836), a physician and essayist, and Richard (b. 1767), a surgeon.
Peter Gibson
Sir Peter Leslie Gibson (born 10 June 1934), is a former British barrister and Lord Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, and is currently a judge of the Qatar International Court. Gibson has also served, between April ...
, a glazier who worked on all of the Minster's stained-glass window
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
s, lived at 1 Precentor's Court for almost all of his 87 years. "I live here, and I look out of the window, and there it is, the Minster. It is one of the greatest buildings in the world," he said. "People cross oceans, cross the world, to come and see it."["Tributes paid to Peter Gibson, renowned York craftsman and glazier"]
– ''The Press
''The Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One comm ...
'', 15 November 2016
Buildings
Fenton House
Formerly the prebendal
A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of t ...
house of Cave and, later, Fenton,[ Fenton House, at 9 Precentor's Court, 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 ...
dating to 1680.[
In 2013, the eight-bedroom home was put on the market for £1.1 million.]["£1.1m York home with out-of-this-world views"]
– ''The Press'', 3 April 2013
Other notable buildings
Below is a selection of notable buildings and structures on Precentor's Court, in addition to Fenton House, ordered from east to west. All are listed buildings at Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...
. Three are Grade II*; two are Grade II. Each building is on the southern side of the street, except Fenton House (which faces the street from its western end) and number 10 (which is around the corner at the same end). The southern wall of Purey-Cust Lodge
Purey-Cust Lodge is an historic building in the English city of York, North Yorkshire. Now Grade II listed, it dates to 1845. Prior to this date, it was the stone yard for York Minster.
The building is named for Arthur Purey-Cust, who se ...
, a Grade II listed building, occupies the northern section of the western end of the street. A group of buildings on the northern side were demolished in 1913.
* York Arms, 1 Precentor's Court (north side) and 24–36 High Petergate (south) – Grade II; dating to 1838, incorporating an early-18th-century house at each end
* 2, 3, 4 and 4a Precentor's Court – Grade II*; dating to around 1710[
* 5 Precentor's Court – Grade II*; early 18th century with later alteration and extension
* 6–7 Precentor's Court – Grade II; mid-19th century, renovated in the 20th century; no. 7 has earlier origins
* 10 Precentor's Court – Grade II*; dating to early 18th century, incorporating remains of a 15th-century house][
File:1 Precentor’s Court 2023.jpg, Number 1
File:2 Precentors Court.jpg, Number 2
File:3, 4 and 4a Precentors Court.jpg, Numbers 3, 4 and 4a
File:5 Precentors Court.jpg, Number 5
File:6 and 7 Precentor's Court.jpg, Numbers 6 and 7
File:10 Precentor's Court 2023.jpg, Number 10, the last building on the street
]
In popular culture
Precentor's Court was featured in the final scenes of the finale of the '' Gentleman Jack'' television series, a co-production between the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.