The Bishop's Palace

Toward the end of the thirteenth century, it became usual for cathedral precincts to be enclosed by a wall. At Lincoln in 1319, towers and gatehouse were erected, and by he middle of the fourteenth century few of the cathedrals and bishops' palaces were unprotected. The gatehouse at Wells commands the entrance to what is virtually a fortification. It had a drawbridge which was in working order until recently , and was last used , as a precaution, during the Bristol riots of 1831.