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Plotting the Past, Planning
the Future - The Life of a Plot
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A Georgian Post Office...The Earl's Post ceased to be an inn sometime
in the middle of the eighteenth century, but the name continued to
be used. By the end of the century the three houses had become two,
in the tenancies of Jane Morgan, postmistress and Philip Jenkins,
tailor. The facades of these houses had been rebuilt in the modern
style, but the mediaeval stone cellars remained. |
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| Reconstruction drawing of the eighteenth century High Street frontage. | ||||
| The historian, Valentine Green, writing at the end of the century stated 'The Earl's Post ... is now better known by its ancient and curious cellars than by any account we are enabled to trace from what occasion it received that denomination ... The original edifice must, however, have been long since demolished; the present superstructure by no means accords with its foundation, which seems to have been constructed for endless durability. The subterraneous apartments appear to have extended beyond their present limits particularly eastwards ... The depth of the crowns of the arches of this cellarage, beneath the present level of the street, proves that former conflagration and ruin must have raised this part of the street very considerably.' | ||||
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The 19th century... The interiors also retained the ancient
fabric and the division between the houses was irregular. The next
tenant decided that something must be done. In 1802 it was agreed
that the 'two Pair of Stairs Room' over the 'Dining Room
or one pair of Stairs Room' should be divided up so that the
two houses, nos 91 and 92, could be separated in a 'regular perpendicular
line all the Way from the Ground Floor to the Roof'. At about
the same time no. 92 was subdivided to make two units. In spite of this regularisation it is very difficult to sort out which house was which in the 18th and 19th centuries. By the middle of the 19th century, however, it is clear that the property was divided into four units, all consisting of a dwelling house and retail outlet. Throughout the six centuries of the history of the site the owners of the property had been the Cathedral authorities. In the 1850s a change took place. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners, took over the administration of the property. They surveyed the premises and, in 1861, sold nos. 92, 93 and 94 to William Slade, boot and shoe maker. Slades continued to trade from no. 92 and, eventually either sold or let the other premises to Charles Palmer, draper. In 1907, Palmer submitted plans to the city council for rebuilding the house on the corner, no.91. Everything was to be demolished and rebuilt except the cellars, which still contained the ancient stonework. |
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In the 1960’s, large areas of central Worcester were redeveloped. Nos. 91-94 High Street were described as ‘worn out’, and the whole group was demolished in 1963 to make way for Marmion House, which now stands on the site. Parts of the medieval undercrofts still survive below the office block. Some clues to the site’s earlier history come from finds made during the redevelopment, including a 9th century Anglo-Saxon coin - a sceatta - and Roman brooches. | |||
| The
High Street frontage photographed in the mid-20th century. |
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