Gatehouse And Boundary Wall With Bridge Over Moat

The site includes a medieval gatehouse and boundary wall with a bridge over a moat, dating back to approximately 1341, when a license was granted to crenellate the structure. It was built by Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury. The wall is constructed from local stone rubble with ashlar copings and other dressings, standing an average height of 5 metres. The plan is irregular, displaying six bastion towers, with the northwest tower, sometimes referred to as the prison, featuring a small, tall room with an apsidal west end, resembling a small chapel. High on the walls of this tower are stone tablets bearing the decalogue. The gatehouse is located on the north side. The wall is boldly crenellated with arrowslits. A section of the north side is incorporated into the Bishop's Palace, now known as Bishop’s House.

The gatehouse is built of random rubble with Doulting stone dressings and a lead flat roof behind crenellated parapets. The exterior has three storeys, with the gateway bay flanked by two rectangular towers with chamfered corners on the north side. The towers feature mostly arrowslits on the ground and first floors. The east face of the east tower includes a two-light mullioned window with a square label (beneath which is the Swans’ Bell), the north face has a circular cinquefoil window, and the northeast corner features an angled oriel window on the first floor, containing one light, followed by two, then two, and finally one, with a moulded base and a reeded frieze to a lead flat roof. The central gateway contains a four-centred arch within a rectangular recess, adorned with carved spandrels. Remnants of the portcullis and chains belonging to the drawbridge remain, now connected to a modern fixed bridge. A pair of possibly 14th-century gates with a circa 1600 wicket are present. Above the gateway is a single lancet window with a cusped opening, set deep within the wall.

Inside the gateway is a quadripartite ribbed vault, featuring short spring shafts, a carved head boss, and corbels. A small oriel window is located in the east wall of this space, presumably for the gatekeeper. Side doors are situated in the projections of the towers to the south of the minor gate arch. The interior has not been inspected. The wall and moat contribute to what Nikolaus Pevsner described as an "exquisite beauty of setting."