Cathedral Visitors' Study Centre and Attached Wall and Gate is a Grade II* listed building in the Lichfield local planning authority area, England. First listed on 5 February 1952. A Late C17 Study centre. 3 related planning applications.

Cathedral Visitors' Study Centre and Attached Wall and Gate

WRENN ID
gilded-sentry-nettle
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Lichfield
Constituency
Lichfield MP: Dave Robertson (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
5 February 1952
Type
Study centre
Address
Cathedral Visitors' Study Centre and Attached Wall and Gate, the Close, WS13 7LD
OS grid reference
SK 116 097
Coordinates
52.68522, -1.82923
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The building is a late 17th-century stable and coach house, with a muniment room added in 1799, and a visitors' study centre constructed in 1986. It incorporates some medieval masonry and has 18th-century additions to the north, with later alterations. The exterior is ashlar with some brick, and features hipped tile roofs with brick stacks. The building is arranged in an L-shape.

The recessed two-window range has a tiled offset on the ground floor and two windows to the first floor with two-light leaded casements. To the right is a range with an entrance featuring a re-set medieval gargoyle above an iron gate and plank doors. This range also includes two gabled dormers with two-light leaded casements and five slits above an offset string course which blends into the gabled coping of the attached wall. The left return, facing Minster Pool, has three windows to each floor with pegged cross casements, and two-light casements to the first floor, all with leaded glazing. A short length of medieval wall extends along the side of the pool, with a pointed entrance and the base of a splayed window visible to the north. The right return showcases a re-set gargoyle at the angle and a plain coachhouse door.

The rear elevation is brick with a modillioned brick cornice. It includes two entrances with stop-chamfered lintels, varied fenestration including single-chamfered-mullioned windows, and gabled dormers. A wing at the right end has some brick rebuilding and a large 20th-century entrance; a blocked round-headed light and cross-casement are visible on the left return. A painted sign on the front prohibits waggons, carts, and cattle from the close.

Inside, some exposed chamfered beams and stop-chamfered joists are visible. The attached wall extends to a curved angle, continuing west, made of brick with stone coping, to No. 19. It includes plain gate piers with caps and paired plank gates. A painted sign to the front prohibits waggons, carts and cattle from the close. The wall and gate piers to Nos 19, 19A and 19B are also separately listed.

Local climate

Cathedral Visitors' Study Centre and Attached Wall and Gate receives an average of 790 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 56% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 75% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 37 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 69% of listed buildings. Of these, 18 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 3 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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