The former Gatehouse and Perimeter Walls to Her Majesty's Prison Shepton Mallet

The property comprises the former gatehouse and perimeter walls to Her Majesty's Prison Shepton Mallet.

The gatehouse is a rubble stone building with an ashlar-faced front, dating to the 1820s and 1830s, located north of the prison site. A 20th-century extension connects it to the main prison range to the rear, with an attached perimeter wall. The substantial ashlar gatehouse stands to the north-west of the Keeper’s House Range. A set of later double doors are at the top of four stone steps, set within large moulded jambs. Oversized cut stone brackets support a cornice, all within a stone architrave with a rounded-arched head incorporating a barred fanlight. The arch surround is decorated with rusticated stone detailing and a central keystone, above which are stone scroll consoles supporting a parapet. The side elevations have a single arrow-slit opening at second-floor level. A mid-20th century link building connects the gatehouse to the Keeper’s House, obscuring the rear elevation, which retains a large entrance way with stone surround, full height gates, and a fanlight similar to the front.

The ground floor of the gatehouse contains a guard’s room with a timber panelled partition and central stable doors. Opposite is an enclosed stone winder staircase that leads up to a heated room, likely a former sitting room area for the guard, with a blocked brick fireplace, timber cupboards, and a flagstone floor. The top floor is unheated and probably served as the guard’s bedroom.

The perimeter wall is approximately 8 metres high. Evidence of former entrances is visible on both the internal and external faces, particularly around the south-east corner, indicating the presence of gateways likely dating to the Second World War, alongside a more recently inserted vehicular gateway. The east side of the wall shows an abrupt change in direction near the rear of the courtyard, suggesting it represents the original line of the prison from the 1820s, before expansion in the 1830s. A section of wall to the north of the keepers range has been removed. At the north-west corner, a section extends around a triangular piece of land adjacent to the former tread-wheel house, which was once part of a flour mill and is now a private garden. The perimeter wall was substantially re-pointed in the late 20th century.

The section of wall attached to the east side of the gatehouse, and which runs for approximately 11 metres, has been lowered and largely rebuilt, and is excluded from the listing.