Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II* listed building. Main construction periods 1567 to 1599. Nos 44-45 High St

Monument Types

• BUILDING (Post Medieval to Modern - 1567 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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Description from record TR 15 NW 58:
Nos 44 & 45 High St (Queen Elizabeth's Guest Chamber). (TR 14885781-OS 1:2500 1957). Originally the Crown Inn, Elizabeth I entertained the Duc d'Alencon here in 1573. Late C16. 3 storeys and dormers with hipped tiled roof having 3 C18 hipped tiled dormers. The 2nd floor is pargetted to represent rusticated masonry and has 3 sashes with glazing bars intact set in moulded architrave. Flanking these are 2 plastered panels dating from 1663 with blank shields surmounted by crowns and roses and thistles. There are 2 central panels depiciting a putto astride a barrel drinking wine, and bunches of grapes. The 1st floor is partly plastered and partly timber-framed with herringbone brick infill. This floor has continous segmental- headed mullioned windows with leaded lights and also 2 plastered bays with round-arched leaded lights. The ground floor has later shop fronts. The interior has a fine plastered ceiling on the 1st floor with various motifs. This room was Solar of the Crown Inn in the C16. Part of the staircase is original. (1) Additional bibliography. (2-3)

The Canterbury UAD also states that on the ground floor the fine tiled panels (C19th) depicting cattle and other scenes in No 45.
Also, 44 High Street was formerly an inn called The Old Crown, also known as The Crown which was a very old inn in Canterbury. It was, of course, included in the 1692 Licensing List and in 1693 the Billeting List offered the inn sixteen soldiers.

The landlord in 1838-1847 was William Newport and in 1864 and 1869 it was James Pearce. The brewers were Baldock and Rigden. The date on the building can be seen as 1573.

The history of the Crown is worth quoting from the Pilgrim's guide to the Royal and Ancient City of Canterbury, published in 1926:
"...The CROWN, now no longer an inn, though once of great repute and extensive accomodation was easily recognised by the highly embossed figures which ornament the street front, the fine pargetted Elizabethan ceiling on the upper floor is undoubtedly one of the most perfect in the country. This inn was built by Prior Chillenden for the accomodation of the pilgrims who came to viit the famous shrine of St Thomas. It is now known as Queen Elizabeth's Guest Chamber, and is said to have been used by Queen Elizabeth I to entertain a suitor, the French prince Duc d'Alencon.

The OLD CROWN closed and by 1903 a local guide lists it as Queen Elizabeth's Guest Chamber - Antiques Store. (4, 5)

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1. 944 HIGH STREET (South West Side)
Nos 44 & 45 (Queen Elizabeth's Guest Chamber) TR 1457 NE 4/67 3.12.49.
II GV
2. Originally the Crown Inn, Elizabeth I entertained the Duc d'Alencon here in 1573. Late C16. 3 storeys and dormers with hipped tiled roof having 3 C18 hipped tiled dormers. The 2nd floor is pargetted to represent rusticated masonry and has 3 sashes with glazing bars intact set in moulded architrave. Flanking these are 2 plastered panels dating from 1663 with blank shields surmounted by crowns and roses and thistles, There are 2 central panels depicting a putto astride a barrel drinking wine, and bunches of grapes. The 1st floor is partly plastered and partly timber-framed with herringbone brick infill. This floor has continuous segmental-headed mullioned windows with leaded lights and also 2 plastered bays with round-arched leaded lights. The ground floor has later shop fronts. The interior has a fine plastered ceiling on the lst floor with various motifs. This room was the Solar of the Crown Inn in tile C16. Part of the staircase is original.
Nos 37 to 46 (consec), Nos 48 & 49 form a group.
Listing NGR: TR1488857804 (6)

<1> DOE (HHR) City of Canterbury Kent Sept 1973 106 (OS Card Reference). SKE39983.

<2> BOE NE and E Kent 1983 252 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE38226.

<3> Hist Bldgs Survey Canterbury City Council/RCHME 57026 3 of 4 (OS Card Reference). SKE43806.

<4> Wilmot, E., 1992, Eighty Lost Inns of Canterbury (Monograph). SKE29747.

<5> Evans, S. O. & Bennett-Goldney, F., 1903, The Ancient City of Canterbury - A Guide (Monograph). SKE29978.

<6> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

Sources and further reading