Home > Gloucestershire > Gloucester > Fleece Hotel Fleece Hotel
Monks Retreat Bar	Picture source: Hania Franek
The Fleece Hotel was situated at 19 Westgate Street. The Fleece was once a major inn which incorporated at 12th century stone undercroft. The building is partly grade-I listedand partly grade-II listed and has been empty since 2002. In 2019 it was badly damaged by fire.
From Wikipedia:
The Fleece Hotel was first opened in 1497 as one of the three major inns of Gloucester to house pilgrims visiting the tomb of Edward II of England. The 12th century undercroft, known as the "Monk's Retreat" was originally part of a merchant's house, and was incorporated into the structure. By 1455, it was a property owned by Gloucester Abbey, and was developed into an inn by the Abbey during the 16th century. It was first recorded as the Golden Fleece Inn in 1673. The building was made part Grade I listed on 24 January 1952, with other parts of the building made Grade II listed on 15 December 1998. After the building was left empty for around nine years, the hotel was purchased by Gloucester City Council in 2011.[4] The announcement was made that year of a £350,000 restoration scheme, with the leader of the city council, Paul James, saying "We want to restore it to bring it back into use and we want to do that as quickly as possible."[5] They subsequently undertook waterproofing work in both the salt loft and the kitchen block, with further repair works and partial demolition afterwards.[4] Two years later, plans were revealed for the building to be run as a backpacker's hostel by the YMCA, and with the undercroft operated as a cafe/bar. On 20 July 2017, There was an arson attack on the building which caused extensive damage particularly to the roof which has made it unusable until repair work is carried out. On 17 September 2019, Gloucester City Council announced that the site would be redeveloped into a boutique hotel in partnership with Dowdeswell Estates.
Grade I listed building details:
Inn, now part of a hotel. C15 range above late C12 undercroft, the range altered and extended in late C16, late C18 and in C19.The undercroft of stone rubble with dressed stone details; the range above timber-framed with later brick extensions rendered in part; slate roof. Plan: a long C15 range above undercroft at right angles to the street, with a short cross-gabled wing at the south end, on the east side of a courtyard set back from Westgate Street and entered through a carriageway below the west end of No.17 Westgate Street (not included) and from Bull Lane. C18 extensions to the west front of the range and extensive C19 additions at the south end of the range. Exterior: the range of two storeys and attic, placed at right angles to the street, is built above the earlier undercroft; the north gable-end wall abuts the rear wall of No.17 Westgate Street. Late C18 single-storey extension on ground floor to front of range facing yard has a large, semicircular bow window to left lit by a row of four curved sashes with glazing bars (each 4x4 panes). Entrance doorway to undercroft to right and entrance doorway to hotel lobby approached by flight of steps. Further right a large C18 bay in extension with sashes with glazing bars. The roof of the extension is a balcony with a timber balustrade of square posts and stick balusters. Above the extension the front of the gabled wing has exposed timber-framing of square panels and diagonal braces. Interior: within the range portions of timber-framing exposed on both floors; late C19 staircase from entrance lobby to first floor; large bar to right of lobby opens into C18 extension to front of range, a storey post to the former front wall of the range, now within the bar, carries a curved brace which may have supported the former first-floor front jetty. The fireplace in the rear (east) wall of the bar has moulded stone jambs of c1500 and a shallow ogee-arched head without moulding, probably a replacement of the original. The larger part of undercroft below the southern end of the range has a segmental barrel vault in five bays defined by transverse chamfered arches which spring from semicircular wall piers with concave capitals and square abaci; in the rear wall a doorway with a flat lintel and a segmental-arched recess in each of two adjoining bays in the west wall at the north end. The lateral walls of the vaulted undercroft incline as though pushed outwards by the thrust of the vault. Flagstone floor is raised above the original level. Above the smaller northern part of the undercroft two timber bridging beams, the northern beam with stopped chamfers. A brick walled passage from the north-west corner of the undercroft leads to a brick vaulted cellar below No.19A Westgate Street. History: the undercroft, an exceptionally fine and early surviving example of its type which bears comparison with examples elsewhere in the country and in Northern Europe, is the surviving part of a merchant's house in a property which originally extended westward to Bull Lane, and recorded in the St Peter's Abbey rental of 1455 as a great tenement that had belonged to Benedict the Cordwainer in the reign of Henry III. The property is believed to have been developed as an inn in c1500 by the abbey, and is first recorded as the Golden Fleece Inn in 1673. Considerable alterations and repairs were recorded between 1772 and 1778.
Grade II listed building details:
Inn, now two shops (No.19A & No.21), restaurant (No.23), and detached part of the Fleece Hotel on the floors above and in rear wing. C15 or C16, altered and extended to south in C18 (No.23), altered in C19 and C20. Timber frame and brick; the street front above the shops and restaurant rendered and boards applied in imitation of timber-framing in early C20; tiled mansard roof. Plan: a two-bay range facing street on the west side of the carriageway to the hotel courtyard with wing to rear of range on the south side of the yard facing main part of hotel: No.19 Westgate Street (qv). The rear wing, part of the restaurant, extends across the backs of No.19A & No.21. No.23, formerly a separate shop and dwelling, was rebuilt or heightened in the C19 and converted as part of hotel. Exterior: front range of three storeys, cellars and attic. Shop-front to No.19A of c1890 with a decorative upper zone of small panes in glazing bars above plate glass windows, entrance doorway recessed to left flanked by curved glass window return to front. shop-front to No.21 late C19 with central recessed entry. Front of restaurant, (No.23) is late C20; the floors above are recessed behind the adjoining fronts. Three-light casements with glazing bars to both floors above No.19A; C18 sashes of similar size with glazing bars to both floors above No.21, and C19 horned sashes, the lower with two vertical glazing bars, to floors above No.23. A roof dormer with casements above No.19 & No.23. Interior: some exposed framing in the floors above No.19 & No.21, otherwise C20 fittings and linings. Included for its C15/C16 origins, and as an integral part of the group centred on the Fleece Hotel
Do you have any anecdotes, historical information, updates or photos of this pub? Become a contributor by submitting them here. Like this site? Follow us on Make email contact with other ex-customers and landlords of this pub by adding your details to this page.
Other Photos
Picture source: Hania Franek