Gatehouse To Ramsey Abbey

TL 2885-2985 RAMSEY ABBEY GREEN 12/22 (south side)

1.5.51 Gatehouse to Ramsey Abbey GV I

Late C15. Parts of east wall, north and south turrets and adjoining lodge of Abbey Gatehouse. Rubblestone with Barnack ashlar. Two storeys. Moulded plinth. North turret octagonal with embattled cornice between storeys. Each face of ground floor has 2 panels with cinquefoil and subcusped heads. Part only of similar panels survives at first floor. North wall with similar cornice continued at lower level. One 2-light window with moulded mullion and square head at ground floor. Richly decorated square oriel of 2 cinquefoil at first floor. Oriel carried on corbel decorated with band of quatrefoils and string of foliate bosses. On either side of window head is a band of subcusped quatrefoils, carved foliate bosses and embattled cornice. The buttress to the east has moulded off-sets and a panel on the face with cinquefoil head. South elevation similar to north, except that only part of ground floor of south turret survives, and south window has been cut down to form a doorway. Door with carved and moulded head. West side of east wall has sealed doorway in 4-centred head and part of jambs of north arch and a shaft in the adjoining angle. Early C19 gateway in north wall to the east. Barnack ashlar. Two centred arch with gabled bell turret above. By Sir John Soane. Modern stone extension in angle of north wall and lodge.

Interior: two centred arches to doorways to stair turrets. Late C13 effigy of Ailwyn, founder of Ramsey Abbey. Alabaster. Reset from Ramsey Abbey. Fragments of bosses in modern extension. Part of gatehouse incorporated in gatehouse to Hinchingbrooke Castle, Huntingdon.

R.C.H.M. Hunts p208 V.C.H. Hunts (ii) Peysner Buildings of England (Beds, Hunts and Peterborough) (p264) Sir John Soane's Museum, Lincoln Inn Fields. Drawer 46, Sets 5 (4-7).

Listing NGR: TL2902585069