Full Report for Listed Buildings
The list description is not intended to be a complete inventory of what is listed: it is principally intended to aid identification. By law, the definition of a listed building includes the entire building (i) and any structure or object that is fixed to the said building and ancillary to it and (ii) any other structure or object that forms part of the land and has done so since before 1 July 1948, and was within the curtilage of the building, and ancillary to it, on the date on which said building was first included in the list, or on 1 January 1969, whichever was later.
Summary Description
Reference Number
6999
Building Number
Grade
II*
Status
Designated
Date of Designation
16/12/1976
Date of Amendment
04/11/2005
Name of Property
Priory Walls, including North, West and Postern Gateways
Address
Location
Unitary Authority
Powys
Community
Brecon
Town
Brecon
Locality
Easting
304362
Northing
229028
Street Side
W
Location
Enclosing the Cathedral Close on 3 sides. The OS map reference is to the W gateway.
Description
Broad Class
Religious, Ritual and Funerary
Period
History
Medieval and later, and was described in 1698 as "looking more like a Town ...than the House of a private Gentleman having no less than Three Great Gates for entrance into the outer Court". The wall is thickest between the Almonry and Tithe Barn (now heritage centre), and thinner as it runs down Priory Hill. Masonry joints near the barn indicate that the wall was removed to build W wall of barn, probably in early C17, so wall predates the barn. The crenellated parapet, however, is later than the barn, but given that part of the western wall is shown with a very similar appearance in the Bucks’ print of 1741 may be late C17 or early C18.
Exterior
Massive wall of stone rubble with embattled parapet which extends south-west from former Almonry and links North, West and Postern gateways. The north gateway has a tall segmental headed arch with two niches with pointed heads over; parapet walk to rear; arch with head of dressed stone to the east on the side of the former Almonry. The Western gateway has a wide segmental headed arch of dressed stone with, to S, a narrow pedestrian arch with chamfered architrave. The Postern gateway has a curved-headed arch of dressed stone with gable over. To the east of the Postern gateway, the wall is lower (corbels near SW corner and then turns through approximately a right angle to run in a SW to NE direction roughly parallel to the South-east elevation of the Deanery.
Interior
Reason for designation
Stone wall retaining Medieval structure, defining the Cathedral Close. Group value with the listed Lych Gate, the Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist, the Almonry, the Tithe Barn, the Canonry and Vestries, and the Chapter House, Clergy House and Deanery which form an exceptional group of ecclesiastical buildings.
Cadw : Full Report for Listed Buildings [ Records 1 of 1 ]
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