16, Market Place

No. 16, Market Place is a former house, now offices with a shop at ground level, located in Wells. The building has a complex history, with its origins in the 16th century, significant additions and alterations made in the early 17th century, and a refronting in the early 20th century. The front facade is of squared stone in uneven courses, while the remainder of the building is constructed of rubble with brick dressings, all under tile or slate roofs.

The property incorporates the upper part of Penniless Porch and features a shop at ground floor accessed from under the porch, offices on the upper floors, and a large rear range accessed from Cathedral Green. This rear range encloses a courtyard, with a principal entrance to the main staircase.

The two-storey, four-bay front has two-light timber casement windows with rectangular leaded panes. The ground floor windows have transoms, and the openings are slightly segmental-arched. Three flat-roofed dormers are present in the roof, the central one with three lights and the others single-light.

A long, gabled wing runs behind Penniless Porch, spanning three storeys. This section features wide-spaced 9 over 12-pane sash windows, along with a small 2-pane casement, a wide plank door, a paired 12-pane sash window, and a further door at ground level. A 12-pane sash window is positioned mid-height, providing access to the staircase. The rear elevation includes two roofs: one with coped gables and stacks to the left, a hipped end leading to a coped gable with a stack at the southern end, and an internal gutter to the rear of the Market Place range.

The eastern gable end has a two-storey lean-to addition, returning to a narrow gable with early 12-pane sashes featuring ovolo-mould bars and crown glass, and a 20th-century door. Slate roofs cover the rear ranges. Under the Porch, an 18th-century six-panel door is set within a moulded stone architrave with a closed pediment. To its right is an early plank door with central hinges and a 4-centered head, leading to the stair vice of the Porch.

The ground floor of the front range retains minimal historic features. The rear of the office block contains a fine late 17th or early 18th-century hardwood staircase, rising through both floors with three balusters to each tread, the central one twisted, and carved scrolled ends to the treads. A fielded panel dado runs along the staircase. Numerous 18th-century doors with fielded panels remain, and many of the windows are shuttered.

A first-floor room at the south end, overlooking the Market Place, is entered through a two-panel fielded door and features a stone fire surround with a flat 4-centered lintel, and moulded beams. The relatively modern front facade contrasts with the complex and rich interior, and the grand staircase suggests the building was once part of a substantial household.