Nos 7 And 8 Including Pintle For Abbeygate

Nos 7 and 8 Abbeygate Street, including a pintle for Abbeygate, is a house that has been converted into a fish and chip restaurant, dating from around 1810. The building is constructed of limestone, which is rendered and painted, and features a roof made of Welsh slate and pantiles. It has a double depth plan with 20th-century extensions.

The exterior is three storeys tall, with attics and a cellar, and has three windows above a modern shop front with large plate glass windows. There is a sill band on the first floor, a moulded cornice, and a parapet. The upper floors have three windows, featuring six-over-six sash windows in moulded architrave surrounds. The first-floor windows are round-headed with radiused glazing bars. The mansard roof has a slate lower slope and a pantile upper slope, with three flat-topped dormers that also contain six-over-six sashes. The end stone stacks have pots.

The elevation facing Abbey Green is in the corner between Nos. 4 and 5 and is painted stone with a pantile roof. This section has two storeys, with a narrow ground floor that has a door architrave converted to a window, which is six-over-three. The first floor has a six-over-six sash window to the left and a blind window recess to the right, along with a cornice and parapet.

An additional feature of the building is a large iron pintle on the left side of the elevation. This pintle is reputed to be one of the remnants from the medieval Abbey gate that once crossed Abbeygate Street at right angles to the current arch. The original gate was demolished in 1744, and the pintle was fixed to No. 7 Abbeygate Street, later being resited when Marks and Spencer was built in 1973. The rear elevation of the main building is largely obscured by the 20th-century extensions, which have steel windows.

The interior of the restaurant has been entirely modernized and was not seen during the inspection. Historically, this house was known as the 'Freemasons Arms' from around 1820 to 1911. The landlord of this pub proposed to purchase Lansdown Tower after Beckford's death for use as a pleasure garden, which led Beckford's daughter to buy the property back and present it to the Rector of Walcot for use as a cemetery and chapel, allowing her father to be buried there.