The North Canonry And The Gatehouse

This is a house and gatehouse of 13th-century origin, largely rebuilt in the 16th and 17th centuries, and restored in the 19th century by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. The building is not set back from the street like other houses in the area. The front is picturesque and asymmetrical, featuring a rectangular, two-story projecting central bay with small octagonal buttresses topped with ogee-shaped finials. This bay has a 14-light mullioned and transomed leaded casement on each floor, and a small attic louvre above, all constructed from ashlar. The right-hand portion of the building has a triple-gabled upper part overhanging first-floor windows, incorporating a plastered cove. The roof is covered with old tiles. On the first floor are three 16th-century four-light mullioned and transomed windows with drip moulds and corner shields bearing initials (those of Richard Hill, a resident from 1672-95) and modern lead lights. A central oriel window, with five arched lights, is likely from the 19th century. A small two-light basement window sits beneath the oriel, and a three-light four-centred arched casement is to the right. A corner buttress is also visible. A tall arched coach entry passes through the building to the right of the projecting bay, with a smaller doorway situated between the archway and the bay.

To the right of the main house is a small 17th-century double coach house with a hipped roof and a pair of flat-arched doorways, each with panelled double doors. To the left of the projecting bay is a plain 19th-century extension which is stuccoed and has four windows. The garden is notable for its central walk leading to the river, terminating in a small terrace parallel to the river.

Inside, beneath the right-hand wing is a 13th-century undercroft with a round pier and abacus; the vaults do not survive. To the rear, in the section with the polygonal buttresses, there is a blocked two-centred arch. A principal room on the first floor in this section features a mid-17th-century carved wood overmantel.

The listed buildings within the Close form an outstanding group.