12, Market Place

WELLS

ST5445 MARKET PLACE 662-1/7/151 (East side) 12/11/53 No.12

GV II

House with shop, now shop. C20 adaptation of a C15 wing of the Bishop's Eye gatehouse (qv). Doulting ashlar stonework, triple roll clay tile roof with abutment to north and coped gable to south, ashlar chimney stacks. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys and attic, 3 bays. Plinth, shallow buttresses at ends and between bays to ground floor only, parapet string with gargoyles, battlemented parapet. 2-light windows with transoms and mullions, the lower windows having segmental arched lights set in a 4-centre arched recess, and the upper windows having diamond leaded panes. Entrance in centre bay with pair of boarded doors with 2-pane fanlights matching top elements of flanking windows. Rear elevation has parapet string with gargoyles and plain parapet, the first-floor windows are single-light trefoil-cusped with square, diamond-stop labels, and between these a carved panel with episcopal rebus, two C20 flat-roofed dormers behind parapet with 2-light small-pane casement windows. INTERIOR: ground floor is opened to a single space, and has a wide 4-centred opening to the rear, some early C18 panelling and a door with bolection-mould panels. There are 4 large beams with stepped stops, and a deep moulded cornice. A 4-centred arch to a doorway gives access to the adjoining gateway to the left. A C20 splat baluster staircase rises to a landing with a 4-centred arch to a deep embrasure, and the first floor has a similar small light to the rear wall, a griffon frieze and heavy moulded cornice. The 4-bay roof has very broad chamfered arch braces and 2 chamfered and stopped purlins; 2 dormer windows have been inserted in the rear slope.

Listing NGR: ST5506545780