God's Providence

For a change today I thought that I would photograph one of the many fine buildings that we have here.

This is God's Providence House which is a four storey listed building on Watergate Street. The original house that stood on this site was built in the 13th century.

It was said that it was the only house in the city to be spared in the great plague of 1647/8, when 2000 people died, hence the name. The only flaw in that is that it was built until 1652 some 5 years after the plague. It may be that the name was taken from the previous house.

During the 19th century the owners wanted to demolish it but there was a campaign in the city to save the historical buildings. In 1862 the owners agreed to a timber replacement of the building which incorporated some of the original beams. The decorative plasterwork that you can see on the facade dates from this time.

You can see the second storey now houses a lovely card and gift shop with the Row in front of it.

For those who prefer a bench shot you can see today's here.