In this blog post we dive behind Greyfriars. This undated image shows how it looked back around the turn of the 20th century. It does, however, includes clues to pinpoint the date more accurately.
At the time the photo was taken this would have been known as no.6 court – but for most of its existence was referred to as George’s yard. Today it is of course the lovely NT gardens. We commend a recent FaceBook post by Discover History for a short write-up of its history, which describes its restoration and creation of the gardens that replaced the tenements.
Looking back out of the archway and into Friar Street you can just about make out the first part of the shop opposite – it reads “24 T.FR..”. Number 24 back then referred to what we now consider to be no.12 (ie Friar Street Kitchen, as we write this). In that case we are looking at the shop of none other than T.Frost, wardrobe dealer (that’s a second-hand clothes seller). He’s the same man we featured two blog posts back when he had a shop at number 14 Friar Street. The trade directories of the time show that Frost’s shop was at no.24 between the years ~1908 – 1912.
Many Worcester streets had yards which, up until the time the post office needed consistent and accurate house names and numbers, used the owner’s name to identify them. So Friar Street, which had 13 courts shown on the 1886 ordinance survey map, included Joseland’s, Morris’s, Nichol’s, Dance’s, Painter’s & Crown yards. The trouble – for the post office that is – was that as ownership changed so could the yard’s name!
Our Own Backyard
Tudor House had a court/yard too. Before the building of the concrete carpark that now backs onto it that is. Known by 1886 as court number 13. Prior to that it was called Painter’s yard. Thomas Painter, a successful shoe maker by trade, lived for many years at what is now number 44. He was able to lease and then own the adjacent houses. This included the southerly part of the museum now referred to as number 42 Friar Street (back then it was number 38!).
We featured in October 2018 a picture of no. 13 court on one of our FaceBook posts.
References
Images taken from the Changing Face of Worcester website. Historical information gleaned from trade directories and 19th and early 20th century census records.