Gatehouse To Ramsey Abbey

The Gatehouse to Ramsey Abbey is a late 15th-century structure located on the south side of Ramsey Abbey Green. It features parts of the east wall, north and south turrets, and an adjoining lodge. The building is constructed of rubblestone with Barnack ashlar and consists of two storeys. It has a moulded plinth and an octagonal north turret with an embattled cornice between the storeys. The ground floor of each face has two panels with cinquefoil and subcusped heads, with some similar panels surviving on the first floor. The north wall continues the cornice at a lower level and includes a 2-light window with a moulded mullion and square head at ground floor, as well as a richly decorated square oriel window with two cinquefoils at the first floor. The oriel is supported by a corbel adorned with a band of quatrefoils and a string of foliate bosses. Flanking the window head are bands of subcusped quatrefoils, carved foliate bosses, and an embattled cornice. The east buttress has moulded offsets and a panel with a cinquefoil head. The south elevation mirrors the north but has only part of the ground floor of the south turret remaining, and the south window has been altered to form a doorway, which features a carved and moulded head. The west side of the east wall has a sealed doorway with a 4-centred head and part of the jambs of the north arch and a shaft in the adjoining angle. An early 19th-century gateway designed by Sir John Soane is located in the north wall to the east, featuring a two-centred arch with a gabled bell turret above. A modern stone extension is present in the angle of the north wall and lodge.

Inside, there are two-centred arches leading to the doorways of the stair turrets. The interior also contains a late 13th-century alabaster effigy of Ailwyn, the founder of Ramsey Abbey, which has been reset from the abbey. Fragments of bosses are found in the modern extension. Part of the gatehouse has been incorporated into the gatehouse of Hinchingbrooke Castle in Huntingdon.