Lawrence House is a Georgian

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...

in Launceston,

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. Built in 1753, the house is a

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

property and a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building. It is leased to Launceston Town Council and used as a local museum.

The house

Lawrence House is a

building being No 9 and 9a, Castle Street, Launceston, the house, the museum and the forecourt wall all being covered by the listing. The property was first listed on 27 February 1950 under the designation "Castle Street No.9 Lawrence House, The Mayor's Parlour and Borough Museum".

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architect ...

described the street as "having the most perfect collection of 18th Century townhouses in Cornwall". The property is a red brick town house laid to

Flemish bond Flemish bond is a pattern of brickwork that is a common feature in Georgian architecture. The pattern features bricks laid lengthwise (''stretchers'') alternating with bricks laid with their shorter ends exposed (''headers'') within the same cou ...

, with two storeys as well as a basement and an attic. The roof is slated and steep with red brick chimneys and the gable end of the cross wing is on the right. An inscription reads "1753" and "HL" and another on the right wing reads "1913". The upper storey has five windows, the right hand one being a Venetian window with moulded hood. The doorway is central and has a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

ed porch with

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s and consoles, and the four-panel door has a fan window above. There are two original pedimented roof

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...

s, each with a 6-pane sash window. The interior has many original features including a grained basement staircase, panelling, plasterwork, moulded ceiling cornices and chimney-pieces. Lawrence House is owned by the

and leased to Launceston Town Council, who use it as a local museum and civic centre. The museum houses a collection of costumes from Victorian and more recent times on the first floor, and numerous exhibits and much information about the local history of the area on the ground floor. During the summer season, some of the exhibits are changed around at intervals to freshen the display. The museum is currently closed for repair. Admission is free.

References

External links

Lawrence House information at the National Trust
* {{coord, 50.63822, -4.36245, display=title Houses in Cornwall Grade II* listed buildings in Cornwall National Trust properties in Cornwall Museums in Cornwall Local museums in Cornwall Launceston, Cornwall Grade II* listed museum buildings Grade II* listed houses