St Andrew'S Lodge With Front Boundary Wall

St Andrew’s Lodge is a former charity school, dating from 1713 and now part of the Wells Cathedral School, and linked to the adjoining property at No.5. The building is constructed of random coursed local stone rubble with Doulting ashlar dressings, and has a Welsh slate roof with a sawn stone ridge between coped gables. It features one brick and one stone chimney stack. The design is based on a double-depth central-hall plan with a transverse stair to the rear right.

The exterior is two storeys high, with a symmetrical five-bay facade. It has two-light stone casements with transoms, featuring slight beading to all members. The ground-floor windows have pediment hoods, and the entrance is in the central bay, featuring a six-panel door and rectangular fanlight set within a stone architrave, topped by a semicircular pediment enclosing a carved figure of Saint Andrew. Later 19th-century lean-to extensions and a set-back extension to the east gable are constructed in brick with stone dressings.

The interior hall retains black and white marble slabs laid diagonally, and the return staircase incorporates 19th-century ceramic tiles. Both main rooms have late 19th-century fireplaces. The ground floor has four large, flat, chamfered spine beams with run-out stops. The staircase has turned balusters, a moulded and swept handrail, and square newels. A small service room behind the staircase contains a broad fireplace with brick jambs and a deep, flush square lintel, likely a reused feature. Fielded six-panel doors are present throughout and fireplaces are predominantly late 19th-century.

A boundary wall extends southwards from the south-west corner of the lodge, running along the front boundary and returning to the south-east corner. The wall is constructed of random stone with moulded ashlar copings, reaching a height of 1 meter along the front and sweeping up at the ends. A broad ashlar pier is located at the left-hand end, and a pair of low, square ashlar gate piers with moulded pyramidal cappings stand opposite the main entrance.

The building was erected by Philip Hodges for the charity school, which occupied the building until the early 19th century when it moved to Portway. Following several tenancies as a private house, it briefly served as a Canonical House after 1947 before being leased to the Cathedral School in 1955. The detailing of the building is generally later than the exterior suggests.