Abbey Gate and Gatehouse

Abbey Gate and Gatehouse is the grand entrance to the Abbey of St Edmund, constructed after the riots of 1327 and completed after 1353. It is made of Barnack stone and features two storeys with battlements. The west facade is elaborately decorated, showcasing a broad segmental entrance arch with three niches above it and a large ogee gable adorned with foiled circles on either side. There are buttresses flanking the entrance, each with ogee-headed niches arranged in three tiers, with the top tier corresponding to the upper storey, which has five tall blank niches. The central niche is taller and features a crocketed gable, flanked by two circles that contain six-pointed stars. The east facade includes a shafted doorway with leaf capitals and an arch that has a double quadrant moulding, along with a large transomed three-light window on the upper storey. The entrance arch leads from Angel Hill into an outer chamber, which connects to a longer principal chamber beyond it, separated by 17th-century timber gates with oversized dumb-bell balusters. Inside, the walls of both chambers have large blank arches with bold flowing tracery, and while both originally featured vaulting with ribs and tiercerons, this is now fragmentary. The principal chamber on the upper storey retains the remains of an original fireplace. The site is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument.