NHER 63575 (Building record) - Thoresby College, Queen Street

Previously recorded under NHER 1228. See this record for details of excavations undertaken in the courtyard of this building in 1964.

November 1975. Visit.
Thoresby College; foundation of 1508 for priests of Trinity Guild. Present building mostly 17th century around courtyard, brick dormers with shaped gables. Several doorways with slightly pointed arches, now blocked, remain in courtyard walls. One Perpendicular doorway remains with linenfold door. Rear wing, recently restored, has 15th century hammerbeam roof with ends of hammerbeams sawn off, and other alterations; blocked ?window with wooden lintel has removed one part of beams. Lower rooms in this wing have old beams. Now used as a youth hostel etc.
E. Rose (NAU), 1st November 1975.

Bellarmine witch bottle found under college.
Information from E.M. James (KLM).

8 October 1996. Field observation.
Mrs James further reports that following stripping of render from the west elevation, not for whole length, only one feature was visible in the brickwork. This is two bays to the south of the hall entrance where two limestone blocks form what may be the side of an infilled opening around a small window of recent date; but some of the apparent blocking consists of early brickwork, suggesting the recent window pierces very early blocking.
E. Rose (NLA), 8 October 1996.

See 1993 revised listing Grade I (S1) which dates foundation to 1500 but building to 1508-11; says the courtyard face described above as 17th century is really polite 18th century, and that hammerbeam roof is false hammerbeam.
E. Rose (NLA), 24 February 1999.

The college was founded in 1500 as a college for 13 priests of the Trinity Guild by Thomas Thoresby. Comprises of four ranges around a courtyard and was divided into two separate properties following the Reformation. Alterations made during the early 18th century are possibly attributed to Henry Bell. The building is an important survival of a medieval college, unique to Lynn and rare outside of Oxford and Cambridge. The east range has three late medieval stone dressed arched doorways within rectangular hood moulds. The central carriage entrance retains its original doors with wicket and has blind tracery decoration with inscription 'Orate pro anima magistri Thomae Thoresby fundatur huius loci'.
See (S2) for further information.
S. Howard (NLA), 15 June 2010.

Press cuttings (S3), (S4) and (S5), architect's plans (S6) and correspondence (S7) in file.

December 2008.
Proposal to reinstate kitchen and bathroom facilities, including removal of a stud wall.
See (S8).
H. White (NLA), 3 February 2009.

(S9) suggests that lancet windows discovered in the south wall of the south wing during renovations undertaken by the King's Lynn Preservation Trust in the early 1960s were probably 15th century. This may imply that the south wing was in fact erected by the Gild of Jesus, and at least part of it incorporated into the new college in the 16th century.
(S10) notes that Robert Houghton, who acquired Thoresby College at the Dissolution, made a warehouse out of the college dining hall since it happened to be located close to the quay. (S10) cites the roof of Thoresby College as the highest refinement of medieval timber roof construction, built with principal rafters and side purlins. Of all the surviving late medieval roofs in King's Lynn, only Thoresby College has windbraces and collars arch braced onto the principals.
See (S9) and (S10) for further information.
A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 25 February 2020.