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Grays Court is a Grade I listed ancient house in the middle of York, England, near York Minster, behind the Treasurer's House next to the city walls. Grays Court is possibly the oldest continuously occupied house in the United Kingdom. Dating back in part to 1080 and commissioned by the first Norman Archbishop of York to provide the official residence for the Treasurers of York Minster, the house has a significant history. The house was surrendered to the Crown on 26 May 1547 and the last of the mediaeval Treasurers, William Clyff, resigned. The first post-Reformation owner was Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset. He was given the house in 1547 by King Edward VI, the son of King Henry VIII.
The Sterne Room was built above the original Medieval Magnesian Limestone wall (which can still be seen) by Jaques Sterne, Precentor and Canon Residentiary of the Minster and uncle of Laurence Sterne, author of First Tristram Shandy, when he owned the house. The marble plaque on the fireplace is of Augusta, wife of Frederick Prince of Wales, and mother of George III.
The 300m stretch of City Walls which bounds Grays Court was donated to the City in 1878 by Edwin Gray the Lord Mayor of York. This is why Grays Court retains the only private access to York’s City walls.
Grays Court has been privately owned since 2005, and is now a hotel/restaurant, offering eleven en-suite rooms. Grays Court is also a venue for weddings, private dining, conferencing and banquets, film locations and more.