Little Cloister

Little Cloister is the remains of the Infirmary Cloister from the former Benedictine Abbey of St Peter, dating from the early 15th century. The structure includes the west alley of the cloister located beneath the east side of Little Cloister House. The east and west alleys were demolished around 1650, while the remaining parts were restored in the 20th century. The building is constructed of ashlar stone and features a lean-to roof, possibly covered in lead, above the south alley.

The layout consists of an approximately square garth, originally surrounded by an alley of five bays on each side. The south alley is adjacent to the north wall of the former monastic refectory, and the west alley is next to the east side of the timber-framed upper floors of Little Cloister House. The surviving garth walls are on the north and east sides.

On the exterior, each bay of the garth walls on the north, east, and south sides is defined by offset buttresses, while the west side has strip buttresses, including a substantial ashlar buttress in the southeast corner. Each bay features a full-width window panel with three lights, where the mullions intersect with a moulded cornice above. The tracery in the head of each panel consists of an arch cut by the mullions, with trefoiled heads for each light and a quatrefoil in the head of the arch. Above the arch, there are pairs of foiled lights in each spandrel. In the south bay of the west alley, there is a segmental-arched doorway incorporated into the tracery of the panel.

Inside, the garth walls have window panels framed by single shafts that rise to a continuous roll moulding with a moulded cornice above. The south alley features exposed roof framing. Little Cloister is also designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.