Great Gatehouse, Bristol
Channel: all the knowledge of the universe PRINCIPIA
Date: 2022-01-19

Great Gatehouse, Bristol, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=10096007 / CC BY SA 3.0

#Buildings_and_structures_completed_in_1170
#Buildings_and_structures_in_Bristol
#Gates_in_England
#Grade_I_listed_gates
#Grade_I_listed_buildings_in_Bristol
#J._L._Pearson_buildings
#Gatehouses_(architecture)
#Bristol_Cathedral
The Great Gatehouse （grid reference ST583727）, also known as the Abbey Gatehouse, is a historic building on the south side of College Green in Bristol, England.
Its earliest parts date back to around 1170.
It was the gatehouse for St Augustine's Abbey, which was the precursor of Bristol Cathedral.
The gatehouse stands to the cathedral's west, and to its own west it is abutted by the Bristol Central Library building.
The library's architectural design incorporated many of the gatehouse's features.
The sculptural decorations on the archways of the gatehouse contain early examples of the use of pointed arches in England.
The gatehouse has been designated by Historic England as a grade I listed building.
St Augustine's Abbey was founded in 1140.
The earliest parts of the gatehouse were built by around 1170, as the main entrance of the monastic precinct, giving access to its courtyard.
The gatehouse was one of a number of the abbey's monastic buildings which survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries, after which in 1542 the abbey became Bristol Cathedral.
A deanery was later built adjoining the west side of the gatehouse.
The deanery was demolished and its place abutting the gatehouse was taken by the new Bristol Central Library building in 1906.
The building consists of two late Norman archways, a carriage gateway and a smaller postern gate for pedestrians, surmounted by a late Perpendicular gatehouse, with an adjoining tower.
The unweathered appearance of the archways led to a public debate between 19th century commentators as to whether the archways had been rebuilt since the 12th century,
but the prevailing view, as argued in the 19th century...