Oriel Chambers (Kingston upon Hull)
Oriel Chambers is a Grade II listed building which, since 2006, has housed the Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation. It is located in the city of Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
Built in 1879 to the designs of William Botterill and Son. It is a brick building with tile and terracotta detail, with dormers and shaped gables. It takes its name from the oriel window on the first floor, the window that stands proud of the facade.
The site of Oriel Chambers lies within a much older tenement on the east side of the High Street, in the heart of the historic core of the Old Town of Hull. This particular plot of land was held by Robert de Dripole in 1293. In 1339 the property was split into two, and a deed of that year records a Basement in which a widow lived, with a 9 feet wide passageway or "free entry" to the west of the said Basement. In the 1347 rental, a tenement was held by John Lambert for 7s per year. A messuage is recorded here in 1374. By 1448 this holding had become one messuage and three tenements, whilst at the Lowgate (Marketgate) end of the property, a chamber and a hospice were erected to serve as a hospital.
In 1455 two new houses were erected on the site, bringing the total to six. Repairs in that year mention a kitchen and a brewhouse. The 1465 Town Rental lists, in addition to the capital messuage and five tenements mentioned earlier, a garden at the end of the tenements which is now assigned to the tenement in Chapel Lane: this almost certainly refers to the east side of High Street. The descent of the property on the east side of High Street is not well documented in the medieval period. The sinuous line of the street suggests that it developed originally as a river frontage for the properties to the west, and that subsequent development of the river bank gradually created a strip of land between the road and the river. Certainly by 1622, no.27 High Street had emerged as a recognisable property in the Elder Chamberlain’s Rental. In that year it was held by Robert Williamson, and ‘the house wherein he dwells’ was specifically mentioned. A single house here continues to be mentioned in the rental returns up to 1711 – thereafter the rents for the property are regularly recorded, but no details of the dwelling are mentioned. In 1719 a deed refers to two messuages, with staiths, chambers and Basements on the east side of High Street.
In 1673 Robert Nettleton was assessed for five hearths here in the Hearth tax – showing that the house was a substantial property. In 1774 Marmaduke Clarke was assessed for 16 windows in the Window Tax – once again confirming the size and status of the house. In 1814 Frost and Moxon, rope-makers, are recorded as having premises at 27 High Street, whilst a 1817 document records a Levitt Quarton, merchant here. In 1837 and 1838 Sarah Cole, shop-keeper, had a house and shop on the site. The 1855 Poor Rate records both a house and offices. The 1853 OS map shows a large building on the site prior to the construction of Oriel Chambers. When this building was constructed has not been ascertained. The 1851 directory entry for 27 High Street, lists the occupants as Messrs Hewitt and Ablett, though the entry does not give their trades. By 1858, however, the property was occupied by Henry Fearnley, a shopkeeper and river broker. In 1861, Thomas Thompson, printer and stationer, is given as occupant, though by 1867, another firm of printers, Ash & Co., were in the building, and they are still listed as such in 1876.
...
Wikipedia