<< Back to Query / Map page

Somerset Historic Environment Record

27004

Public access:

The public accessibility of this site is unknown or has not been checked. Please ask locally and do not visit without permission. [Information last updated on 05 October 2007]

Details:

The earliest reference to properties in this area are in 1343-5 when 4 properties were acquired by Peter le Monier, one of the largest property owners in Wells. There are various later references to Moniers Lane containing tenements, tofts and cottages but in 1569 it appears to be a site devoid of buildings. The mansion occupied a plot comprising the eastern half of the site and may have been occupied from the C14 onwards. In a survey of 1649 Manners Lane is described three tenements and a large barn occupying one acre. To the E are two tenements (one on the site of the later church, PRN 17617, the other to the S) with low rents for properties in this area. To the E again lies a messuage in the tenure of Thomas Coward, subsequently described as a mansion in a lease of 1717. Deeds survive from 1730 and the house is shown on Symes' map with a formal garden to the S. A further garden was created to the N of Chamberlain Street, known as The Vista, which provided a view from the house to the N and involved the destruction of 3 properties. Buck's prospect of Wells (1736) shows the mansion from the N along Chamberlain St with a return wing running S from the W end. The size of the trees in The Vista suggests that they were newly planted. The present building (PRN 20323) appears to be wholey of c1820 but some irregularities in the fenestration may hint at the survival of earlier fabric. {1}

References:

Record created on 05 October 2007

© Copyright Somerset County Council 2013