IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
The Liberty, WELLS, BA5 2SU

The B3139 heading through Wells and up to Wells School.

Grade II* listed. Listing number 1383163. Large detached house, formerly known as The Organist's House. C15 fragments, with C16, C17, C18 and C19 additions and alterations.

The Vicars' Close dates from 1348 and is considered to be the oldest surviving, and still inhabited, terrace of houses in the country. The vicars of the cathedral were organised on a collegiate basis and provided with their own accommodation within the bounds of the cathedral itself.

An aerial view that takes in Wells Cathedral School, Vicars Close and the Cathedral

Number 18 Vicars Close. Vicars Close is a double row of houses enclosing a street of about 140 metres. There were originally 44 houses, now 27, with some units combined into a single dwelling. Built circa 1360 for the Vicars Choral there have been various rear extensions in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries with refenestration in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The properties were extensively restored between 1976 and 1983. Numbers 14 to 27 are listed, grade I, with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1383199 The boundary walls to these houses are listed, grade I, with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1383200 A Roman settlement around three wells that became much more important when the Anglo-Saxon King Ine of Wessex founded a minster church in 704, Wells is the second smallest city in England.

The sole building in Vicars Close, Wells, Somerset, that does not date from the mid 14th century, Shrewsbury House was rebuilt in the 19th century after a fire.

A cutmark, as listed in the Benchmark Database: http://www.bench-marks.org.uk/bm50821 , by a door on The Liberty. See Image] for a wider view.

This is the northern end of Vicars Close, as seen from The Liberty. The close is regarded as the oldest preserved example of a purely residential street. A benchmark can be found by the blue door - Image

Number 16 Vicar's Close. This wide 5-bay property, incorporating two original properties, appears to have been almost completely rebuilt in the late 18th century. Vicar's Close is a double row of houses enclosing a street of about 140 metres. There were originally 44 houses, now 27, with some units combined into a single dwelling. Built circa 1360 for the Vicars Choral there have been various rear extensions in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries with refenestration in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The properties were extensively restored between 1976 and 1983. Numbers 14 to 27 are listed, grade I, with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1383199 The boundary walls to these houses are listed, grade I, with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1383200 A Roman settlement around three wells that became much more important when the Anglo-Saxon King Ine of Wessex founded a minster church in 704, Wells is the second smallest city in England.

Over the wall is the lantern of Lantern House