Boundary Walls To Numbers 1-13

The boundary walls enclosing the gardens of the row of houses numbered 1 to 13 in Vicars' Close date from the mid-15th century, with some modifications made in the 19th century. They were restored between 1976 and 1983. Constructed from local roughly squared stone rubble, the walls feature Doulting ashlar dressings. The front boundary walls are, on average, 4 meters from the front of the houses and have returns along the side boundaries. They include openings opposite the doorways to the houses and stand about 1 meter high, topped with roll and pitched face copings.

At the south end, the walls curve into a quarter-circle leading to Vicars Hall. Notable variations include No. 4, which has lower walls topped with railings that have arrowhead tops and urn finials. No. 5 features what may be an original gateway, where the wall rises in the center to form a 4-centred arched gateway with a mock-crenellated top, framing a timber gate with wrought-iron hinges. Above the arch, there is a carved raised text in Gothic letters quoting from a Psalm.

No. 7 has gateways at both ends, with ashlar piers topped by moulded pyramidal caps, and No. 12 has similar piers at its gateway. The front wall of No. 13 is about 1.8 meters high and features two stone arches like those at No. 5; the left arch frames stone steps leading to Vicars Chapel, while the right arch serves as the house gateway with a timber gate.

These walls disrupt the original quadrangular layout of Vicars' Close, built in response to the Vicars' requests for gardens. They enclose an approximately 140-meter long street that narrows and rises slightly toward the north, which is entirely paved with setts. It is likely that each house originally had a raised gateway when the walls were first constructed.