Ritchie Hall

Ritchie Hall is part of the Wells Cathedral School and was built in 1884, incorporating fragments of a 12th-century Canon's Barn. The building is constructed from local stone that is roughly squared and coursed, with ashlar dressings, and features Welsh slate roofs with terracotta ridges and coped gables.

The exterior has a design reminiscent of the 15th century, consisting of one and two-storey sections arranged in four bays. The first bay projects and includes a five-light mullioned and transomed window with a hoodmould above it. The second and fourth bays, which are set back, also have similar windows. The third bay features a deep projecting two-storey porch with a plinth, a parapet string, and crenellation. The first floor of the porch has two 2-light traceried windows in the 15th-century style, while the entrance doorway below has a moulded arch with a label. Above the door is a flush stone plaque inscribed with "SCHOLA/CATHEDRALIS/MDCCCLXXXIV".

Inside, the rear part of the building contains six square piers with slightly rounded corners, square chamfered abaci, and double offset chamfered bases, supporting a heavy square aisle-plate. According to Pevsner, the documents refer to the Canon's Barn from the time of Bishop Reginald, around 1175-1190. If these fragments are indeed from that period, they represent the earliest secular fabric remaining in the city, making them of significant historic interest.