Description

WELLS

ST5445 ST JOHN STREET
662-1/7/256 (East side)
23/12/93 No.5
Bridge House

GV II

House at end or row. Possibly C17 origins, substantially
rebuilt and extended in mid C18 and later C19. Rubble,
rendered front, pantile roofs.
PLAN: 2-room cross-passage plan plus later parallel range,
with central valley gutter; original staircase position not
known, C19 stair rises laterally to the right behind the
original rear wall.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys, 3 bays, with broader bay to left,
possibly earlier fire-bay; plain sashes in reveals, stone
sills. Central 4-panel door under plain transom-light in
Tuscan pilasters and with bold cyma cornice mould. Plinth,
brick stack to right. The double gable to the right, rising
directly from the adjacent St Andrew's Stream, has, centred at
first floor, a pointed light with margin-pane glazing, and a
small square attic light. The rear wall of the later range has
4-pane sashes to cambered heads in rubble walling, and central
door under a narrow transom-light. There is a small lean-to
extension to the right, corbelled over the stream.
INTERIOR: earlier fabric obscured by restructuring in the C19.
There is a stone-flagged cross passage, and to its right the
front room has a large fireplace with stone cheeks and a deep
wooden bressumer, but this appears to be recent. The room to
the left, like most of those in the house, has a C19 fireplace
and grate; some of these have decorative tile surrounds or
inserts.
The straight-flight stair rises to the right, behind the thick
original outer wall, which retains 2 blocked openings,
probably former windows, with deep splayed embrasures, and in
proportion capable of taking 2-light C17 casements. The small
projecting space off the ground-floor room is unexplained.
The property holds an important position, immediately opposite
the former St John's Priory (qv), from which the street is
named.

Listing NGR: ST5481745538

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26663083

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

• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy