Diocesan Registry

The Diocesan Registry, located on the east side of Market Place in Wells, dates back to the 15th century but has a facade from the early 20th century. It originally served as a wing to the Bishop's Eye gatehouse. The front section is constructed from Doulting ashlar stone, while the wing is rendered, with Broughton Moor slates laid in diminishing courses; the north gable has a coped finish, and the south has an abutment. The architectural style is reminiscent of the 17th century.

The building's plan incorporates a staircase to the rear, a front range, and a long wing to the south overlooking the green, with access to the upper levels of the adjacent Bishop's Eye. The main facade is two storeys high with a basement, and features a moulded parapet and a battlemented parapet. Most windows are cruciform, with ovolo-mouldings and rectangular leading; the lower bay’s window features rectangular leaded panes. The entrance has a wide, two-panelled door with a fanlight in an ovolo-mould architrave. A stackhead to the left displays the Diocesan arms, accompanied by a lead downpipe.

The wing has a Welsh slate roof with coped gables and an ashlar chimney. It stands two storeys high with seven bays. It has sash windows with eight panes in plain openings, with buttresses between bays two and three and bays four and five. A worn, oval niche is high in the plain east gable.

Inside, the front room on the ground floor has a large stone fireplace with a moulded four-centred arch and an 18th-century surround, along with panelling; one cupboard door has a bolection-mould architrave. A 17th-century dog-leg staircase features a solid string, splat balustrades, and square newel posts, with access to a spiral staircase in the gatehouse. The principal room on the first floor has a large stone fireplace with a moulded four-centred arch and a bolection-mould surround, two doorways with four-centred arches, a former four-light casement (now reduced to two) with stanchion bars, and two deep embrasures. Late 17th-century six-panel doors are also present. The basement has a stone floor and a central beam, while the roof structure is a 19th-century queen-post roof with straps. The rear wing has simpler detailing, and its roof features a series of pegged collar trusses.

A 1930 photograph shows the front elevation with eight-pane sashes and a full-width drip-course.