Gatehouse And Chapel To St Mary'S Abbey

The gatehouse and chapel are late 15th or early 16th century, originally part of St Mary’s Abbey, with 16th-century alterations and a 19th-century restoration. Constructed of stone rubble with a tiled roof, the building features stone and brick chimneystacks. It is roughly L-shaped and two storeys high with irregular window placement.

The west elevation has three prominent external chimneystacks, stone at the base, brick above; a continuous drip-mould with two gargoyles; a shield above the arch, whose motto is now illegible, and probably representing the Honeywood family; a large central stone arch with a dripmould and renewed double doors; a smaller 4-centred arch to the right with dripmoulding and carved spandrels, displaying three shields – one with the instruments of the Passion, another with a pierced heart, and a third with a worn motif; a double-arched window above, and a blocked squint to the left. A deep plinth runs along the base. The north elevation has a ground floor of stone rubble, while the first floor is timber-framed and covered in roughcast. A 5-light, 16th-century wooden mullioned window is on the first floor, and two paired stone mullioned windows are on the ground floor. A blocked doorway indicates a former entrance to the chapel.

The east elevation incorporates stone rubble on the ground floor and a timber-framed, plastered first floor with roll-moulded jetty and visible square framing above a cart entrance. This side features a central carriage entrance with a 4-centred arch and a moulded wooden pilaster to the left. A ground floor 2-light splayed mullioned window and a stone doorcase, altered into a window with leaded lights, are also present. To the right of the entrance is a 6-light wooden mullion with some 19th-century stained glass, along with arched doorcases containing original 5-plank doors.

The south elevation exhibits a stone ground floor, header bond brickwork above, and Flemish bond brickwork to the gable. All windows on this elevation are 20th-century replacements. A pilgrim's chapel, originally attached to the east, was altered in the 19th century into a family chapel. The south front features ashlar construction, a stone trefoil-headed light with quatrefoils above, a cambered arched doorcase with a panel and a stoup, and a 19th-century east window with reticulated tracery.

The interior of the chapel has a barrel-vaulted ceiling in the eastern half, while to the west, roll-moulded beams supported by stone corbels carry an upper chamber with squints. Exposed joists and a central roll-moulded beam are visible. A former Victorian screen has been removed from the rear of the chapel. A 2-plank door in a 4-centred arched frame leads to the upper floor. Moulded beams define the upper rooms; the chamber next to the arch contains a stone fireplace and an original Perpendicular window surround. The roof structure includes jowled posts and crownposts with headbraces to the collar beam, arched braces and further structural detailing.