| Description: | No. 2 Deanery Place outwardly appears to be a house of the late 18th century, and is listed as such (REN 1125). On the inside, however, it clearly has late 17th century features, including the roof and a stair in a brick structure to the rear, added into an earlier building. Inspection and recording of the limited areas of the building exposed during renovations in 1990 slowly revealed that the late 17th century building had been constructed within the shell of a late-medieval building, of Permian breccia masonry, possibly including No. 1 to the north as well (Nenk et al. 1991, 140). The distinctive aspect of the structure was that masonry was observed in the external walls, and through much of the building at a high level, but was missing in the ground-floor stage of the east and west walls; i.e. there was a void area through the middle of the building, suggesting that the ground floor would have been occupied by a wide passage. Thus the building was interpreted as the gatehouse of the medieval Deanery; a gatehouse with a broad passage, first-floor room, and crenellated parapet is, in fact, shown in this position on the map of the South Street area dated to the 1560s in the Cathedral archives (D&C M/10; Ravenhill and Rowe 2000, 6-7; REN 4397). The south-west corner incorporated a stone newel stair in a turret which extended to a greater height than the walls; one narrow lancet window with trefoil head survived near first floor level, lighting the stair turret, and remains of a second were recorded further up. Remains of the stone treads of the stair were recorded at intervals, and one jamb of a doorway leading north at the level of a high first floor; enabling the level of the upper floors of the building to be estimated.
At the base of the stair turret in the south-west corner, a small section of thicker wall on a different alignment, appears to be a remnant of an earlier building incorporated in the later medieval structure (EAAC 15.vi.1990, 7-8).
Extant: Yes |
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