The Gatehouse website record for Wells Cathedral Precinct

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Penniless Porch; Brown's Gate; The Dean's Eye; The Bishop's Eye

In the civil parish of Wells. In the historic county of Somerset (Modern Authority of Somerset, 1974 county of Somerset).

Licence to crenellate issued 1286, "to enclose the churchyard of the cathedral church of Wells and the precinct of the canons' houses in the city with a stone wall, and to crenellate the same for their better security, making sufficient gates and posterns, to be opened at dawn." Clearly expressed as a defence against thieves rather than military or even as a status symbol. A further licence of 1340 for the bishops palace and the close required the gates and posterns to be open for thoroughfare from dawn till night. A further licence of 1451 gives licence to execute the provisions of the previous licence not hitherto executed, which seems to be the whole previous provision. Since the bishops palace was completed by this time this presumable reference to the close around the cathedral of which there are several gates surviving, most notably the Penniless Porch of about 1450 (also Brown's Gate - aka The Dean's Eye - and The Bishop's Eye), which is a clear expression of the status of the Cathedral. Were the earlier licences acted on and the 1451 repeat an excuse to build new finer buildings?

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 483442; 483311; 483307; 483444)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST551457

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 20419; 20416; 20497 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes. I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself.
The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.