Grays Court, York

Grays Court is a Grade I listed house[1] in York, England. The house is within the city walls near York Minster. Dating back in part to 1080 and commissioned by the first Norman Archbishop of York to provide the official residence for the Treasurers of York Minster.

Gray's Court Courtyard at the rear of the Treasurers House, with the redbrick building of Gray's Court facing the camera

History

The house was surrendered to the Crown on 26 May 1547 and William Cliffe, the last of the medieval Treasurers, was made dean of Chester. The first post-Reformation owner was Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset. He was given the house in 1547 by Edward VI, the son of Henry VIII.[2]

The Sterne Room was built in mid 18th century for Jaques Sterne, Precentor and Canon Residentiary of the Minster and uncle of Laurence Sterne. The marble plaque on the fireplace is of Augusta, wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and mother of George III.

The house became "Gray's Court" when William and Faith Gray moved into the house in Minster Yard in 1788. Life at the house was recorded by Faith Gray who was a keen diarist but she also worked, with Catharine Cappe et al, to establish a school for poor girls. She helped transform the Grey (now Blue) Coat School and she started a Friendly Society. Faith died at Gray's Court on Boxing Day in 1826.[3]

The 300m stretch of the city walls which bounds Grays Court was donated to the City in 1878 by Edwin Gray the Lord Mayor of York. His wife, Almyra Gray wrote a history of her family in this building Papers and diaries of a York family 1764-1839. The book includes details of the family.[4] Almyra died here in 1939.[5]

Grays Court has been privately owned since 2005, and is now a hotel.

References
  1. Historic England. "GRAYS COURT AND GARDEN GATES AND PIERS ATTACHED TO SOUTH EAST CORNER (1257248)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  2. "The Treasurer's House and Gray's Court | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  3. "Gray [née Hopwood], Faith (1751–1826), diarist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48932. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  4. Almira Vickers Gray (1927). Papers and diaries of a York family 1764-1839. Sheldon Press.
  5. "Gray [née Vickers], Almyra (1862–1939), social reformer and philanthropist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-59921. Retrieved 5 August 2020.

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