Judges Lodgings, York

The Judges' Lodgings is a Grade I listed townhouse, at 9 Lendal, in York, North Yorkshire. It is so named because from 1806 it provided accommodation for judges visiting York to sit in the Assize Courts.

The building was erected between 1711 and 1726 on land that formerly belonged to St Wilfred's Church; which had been demolished between 1550 and 1587. In 1736, Francis Drake recorded the recent building of a house for Clifton Winteringham senior in Lendal. He described it as one of the "best built houses in the city". Drake recalled that when the foundations were dug "several cart loads of human bones were thrown up". The architect is unknown, but it may have been Lord Burlington. He designed and built the Assembly Rooms in 1730, and possibly the Mansion House between 1725 and 1730, both nearby. The house is an early example of the 18th-century classical style. Festoons of fruit emphasise…