The Well House About 35 Metres North of the Bishop's Palace is a Grade I listed building in the Somerset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 12 November 1953. A Medieval Well-house.

The Well House About 35 Metres North of the Bishop's Palace

WRENN ID
vacant-alcove-sorrel
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
Somerset
Constituency
Wells and Mendip Hills MP: Tessa Munt (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
12 November 1953
Type
Well-house
Period
Medieval
OS grid reference
ST 552 458
Coordinates
51.20985, -2.64233
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Well House, located about 35 metres north of the Bishop's Palace in Wells, was built in 1451 for Bishop Bekynton. It is constructed from Doulting ashlar stone and features a pyramidal Welsh slate roof with large stone crowning elements, which may have served as a former chimney outlet. The building is square in shape and consists of a single storey with a single bay.

The exterior includes a plinth, angled corner buttresses, and an eaves moulding. There are small 2-light transomed windows on the east, south, and west faces, each with 2-centre arched lights that are cinquefoil cusped, along with incised spandrels and deep square labels with plain stops. The north face has a moulded 4-centre arched doorway with a label and a plain boarded door.

Inside, the well house has a plain plastered shallow domical vault ceiling and a stone flag floor with a large square hole in the centre, which covers the well. There is also a small plain fireplace in the north-west corner. Originally, the well house was provided by Bekynton as a water conduit for the citizens in the Market Place, before being relocated to its current position north of the Palace. The supply of water from the wells to the town has been an important privilege since the early Middle Ages.

Local climate

The Well House About 35 Metres North of the Bishop's Palace receives an average of 860 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 62% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 70% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 52% of listed buildings. Of these, 14 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  5. The Rib Grade II* 111 m
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  7. Gatehouse and Boundary Wall with Bridge Over Moat Grade I 114 m
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  10. 1, St Andrew Street Grade I 138 m