Description

WELLS

ST5445 MARKET PLACE
662-1/7/155 (East side)
14/08/72 No.16

GV II

Former house, now offices with shop below; the property also
occupies the upper part of Penniless Porch (qv). C16,
considerable additions and alterations early C17, refronted to
W in early C20. Squared stone in uneven courses to the Market
Street front, rubble with brick dressings elsewhere, tile or
slate roofs.
PLAN: a complex property which has a shop at ground floor
entered from under the Porch, offices on the upper floors, and
a large range to the rear, entered from Cathedral Green. This
rear range encloses a courtyard to the rear, with a principal
entrance to the main staircase. abutments on both sides.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys with attics, 4 bays. 2-light timber
casement windows with rectangular leaded panes, the
ground-floor windows having transoms, the openings slightly
segmental-arched. In the roof, three flat roofed dormers with
casement windows, the centre 3-light and the others
single-light.
Behind Penniless Porch is a long gabled wing in 3 storeys,
with wide-spaced 9 over 12-pane sashes, and at the ground
floor a small 2-pane casement with transom, wide plank door,
paired 12-pane sash and a further door; at mid height is a
12-pane sash to a staircase. Behind the plain parapet are 2
roofs, that to the left with coped gables, each with a stack,
then a hipped end which runs back to a coped gable with stack
at the S end; there is a gap between this roof and the rear of
the Porch, and internal gutter to the rear of the Market Place
range.
The plain E gable end has a 2-storey lean-to addition, then
returns, with a set-back to a narrow gable over early 12-pane
sashes with ovolo-mould bars and crown glass, and a C20 door.
The roofs to the rear ranges are of slate. Under the Porch is
an C18 six-panel door in a moulded stone architrave with
closed pediment, and to its right an early plank door with
central hinges, and to a 4-centred head; this door gives to
the stair vice of the Porch.
INTERIOR: the ground floor of the front range has little of
historic interest. At the rear of the office block is a fine
late C17 or early open well C18 hardwood stair rising through
both floors with 3 balusters to each tread, the central one
twisted, and carved scrolled ends to the treads. The dado has
fielded panelling. There are many C18 doors with fielded
panels, and many of the windows are shuttered.
One first-floor room at the S end, overlooking the Market
Place, is entered through a 2-panel fielded door, and has a
stone fire surround with flat 4-centred lintel, and moulded
beams.
The rebuilt C20 frontage of this property belies the complex
and rich interior. The grand staircase suggests that at some
time it must have been a household of some importance.

Listing NGR: ST5506445807

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26663002

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)