Monument record BSE 447 - Refectory Garden Wall, Precinct Yard, Abbey Gardens

2014: Historic Asset Assessment was made of the blocked door in the east boundary wall of the Cathedral Precinct Yard; the door is partly burried and excavation recorded its full extents. The wall is part of a ruined building of the medieval abbey and the door is a contemporary feature that dates to no later than the c.14 century. The wall and door are thought to have been part of the remodelling of the buildings within the yard that occurred following the town riots in 1327 when the abbey was strengthened and access from the more public spaces like the Great Courtyard was likely to have been more restricted.

At the time of the Reformation, the Precinct Yard was known as the Palace Gardens and those buildings that occupied the site had been robbed, or were in the process of being robbed, of their roofs and fittings. During the 50 years following the dissolution of the monastery the area of the Abbey Gardens and the Precinct Yard came under separate ownership and it is during this period that the door between the two spaces was blocked up.

During the 17th century the ground levels within the yard were raised by the importation of a large amount of soil and by the mid-18th century the area of the precinct yard was reunited with the Abbey gardens under the owenership of the Davers family. At the turn of the 19th century the yard became a kitchen garden associated with Abbey House and door and gateways were opened up through the medieval walls to link the kitchen gardens with the rest of the park; the surveyed example however seems to have remained blocked since the 16th century (S1).