The Bishop's Eye is a Grade I listed building in the Somerset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 12 November 1953. A Medieval Gatehouse.
The Bishop's Eye
- WRENN ID
- turning-granite-shade
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Somerset
- Constituency
- Wells and Mendip Hills MP: Tessa Munt (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 12 November 1953
- Type
- Gatehouse
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- The Bishop's Eye, Market Place, Wells
- OS grid reference
- ST 550 457
- Coordinates
- 51.20951, -2.64466
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Bishop's Eye is a gatehouse tower built around 1451 by Bishop Bekynton, costing £133.6.8. It is constructed from Doulting stone ashlar and features a copper flat roof. The tower has three storeys and a single bay, with its west elevation facing the market place and flanked by two rectangular turrets that have chamfered corners. There is a moulded string course over the doorway and below the parapet. The entrance features a 4-centred archway with a pair of timber gates, possibly from the 18th century. The entrance is grooved and vaulted, and above it, the elevation is divided into five bays with statue niches beside 2-light flat-headed traceried windows. There is a larger canopied statue niche at the first-floor level, and a band of armorial shields is located below the first-floor windows. The rear elevation is similar to the front and includes a carved episcopal rebus. The external stonework was cleaned in 1992 and 1993. The interior has not been inspected.
Local climate
The Bishop's Eye 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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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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