The Bishop's Eye, Wells, Grade I listed medieval gatehouse in Wells, England
The Bishop's Eye is a three-story medieval gatehouse with a copper roof, flanked by two stone turrets and decorated with intricate carved stonework on its western face. The structure preserves its original timber gates, which have survived from the eighteenth century.
Bishop Thomas Bekynton commissioned this gatehouse in 1451 as a new entrance to the Bishop's Palace. The project was part of broader efforts to define and separate the episcopal residence from the surrounding town.
The structure serves as a passage connecting the busy market area with the quieter cathedral precinct, marking the boundary between public and sacred spaces. Visitors moving through it experience a shift from town life to the more sheltered religious quarter.
The gatehouse sits at the junction between the market square and the cathedral precinct, making it easy to reach on foot from either direction. Access is open and straightforward, with plenty of space to walk through and examine the carved details.
Artist Joseph Mallord William Turner drew this building in 1785, capturing its medieval stone carving in watercolor sketches that still survive. The drawings show fine details of the stonework that remain visible on the structure today.
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