S Gatehouse at Ewenny Priory (house)

The South Gatehouse at Ewenny Priory is a Gothic building dating from the 12th century, constructed of coursed stone rubble with ashlar dressings. It faces south and comprises a polygonal tower to the east and a gateway to the west, with a precinct wall adjoining it at the west and a stretch of ruined precinct wall to the east.

The south front of the gateway features a trefoil-headed light with a square hood mould on the first floor, just below the embattled parapet, which is supported by a corbel table. Below this is the outer ashlar entrance arch with narrow, chamfered imposts and broach stops. To the right, the projecting gatehouse has a deep spur base and an arrow loop to the west. It also has chamfered, trefoil-headed lights to each storey on the east side and to the first storey on the south side, along with small slit lights, putlogs, and a culvert beneath the ground to the south. The battlements have a narrow string below.

Inside the gateway is a stone vault with rectangular openings in the south bay. The semi-circular central arch retains nook shafts and heavy roll moulding from the 12th century, along with putlogs and metal fittings for a gate. The north front of the gateway has a chamfered pointed arch with broach stops at the impost and base, with a 19th-century trefoil-headed light above. It also features battlements, corbels, and buttresses with offsets to the side.

A wing of the gatehouse to the east is recessed and has battlements above a narrow string, mirroring the south side. An external stone stair ascends to the first floor through an arched entrance with a trefoil-headed light to a chamber adjacent. At ground floor level, two further arched entrance doorways are present, with a slit light between them – one to the left, leading to a former ground floor chamber, and the other to the right, leading to a former inner stair. To the left at the north-east corner is a tower with a spurred base, adjoining at right angles the remains of the former south precinct wall.

The interior of the gatehouse is now roofless and lacks surviving internal division of storeys. It features very deep and wide window embrasures, as well as doorways at first floor level, leading to the chamber over the gateway and to the former wall walk. A 19th-century firegrate with an 18th-century fireback is inserted within the interior. The first floor room over the gateway, with its pointed arched doorway, contains 19th-century fittings, including metal windows, a stone floor, and red and blue painted wall decoration; it is now roofed with concrete and used to store fragments of moulded stone. A passage inside the west wall of the gatehouse likely led to a former garderobe, similar to that in the north gatehouse.