Black plaque № 9344

Norman House. Originally a two storey building of good Norman freestone, it would have had an undercroft of wood supporting the first floor which was probably also of wood. The hall on the first floor was lit by windows, one of which remains and has a shaft with a water leaf capital between the two lights. The windows were rebated at the inside for shutters but were never glazed. The house was probably at one time the Prebendal house of Osbaldwick, a village near York, and indeed a house on the site was used by the Minster Clergy until the 19th century. The few decorative details and the masonry fix the date of the house at c.1180. It is without doubt the oldest dwelling house of which any substantial remains still stand in situ in the City. The courtyard was restored in 1969 through the initiative of the York Civic Trust.

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