Description

WELLS

ST5445 MARKET PLACE
662-1/7/164 (West side)
12/11/53 The Market Cross
(Formerly Listed as:
MARKET STREET
The Fountain)

GV II*

Market cross with fountain. c1797 by Harcourt Masters of Bath.
Limestone. Triangular-plan monument in Gothic style with
classical base, set in a circular pool. Rusticated base with
frosted rustication to corner shafts, the NW and SW faces
having pointed-arched recesses with former outlets for water;
the E face has a cascade.
Ogee-arched openings with flower carvings to architraves to
central block above, framed by 5-shafted columns with foliate
capitals and surmounted by finials with frosted rustication.
Centre section is crowned by a shallow coved cornice with
similar flower-type carvings, and frosted rustication finials
to corners and to ogee-domed top. Pool is surrounded by wall
with chamfered plinth and moulded coping; the pool is breached
by a platform on the NW and SW faces.
HISTORICAL NOTE: this replaced Bishop Becknynton's conduit
which was demolished in 1796, and was gravity fed by a pump
house in the garden of the Bishop's Palace (qv). It cost »150
to build.
(Serel T: The History of Wells, published lecture of
03.05.1858: 1858-).

Listing NGR: ST5499645765

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17553120

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

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  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
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  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
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  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
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  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
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  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
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  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings