3.1 INTRODUCTION

Physical and documentary evidence exists for several buildings at Burnham Norton Friary. The largest structure still standing today is the beautiful restored gatehouse of c.1320. However, the extent of its restoration is not fully clear, nor do we know how much of it is pre-Dissolution in date. The gatehouse is architecturally important: ‘If the restoration … is faithful to the original, its blank window replicas in proudwork on the west and east walls may represent the earliest use of that style as wall-surface decoration.’ The gatehouse first floor contained a chapel (mentioned in a Papal Indulgence of 1392), within which was the Guild of St. Mary of Bedlam, or the Friars’ Guild. This guild received bequests from local people between 1387 and 1517.

An engraving of 1795 (Plate 5), showing the gatehouse before its restoration, has been studied and discussed in previous published works. The engraving was reversed when printed, so shows a mirror image of the drawing it was based on, and of the true picture on the site. In the engraving, the gatehouse upper storey is ruined, but its west gable survives nearly to ridge height though little detail of it can be deduced. Another building, now lost, stood immediately north of the gatehouse. The engraving's oblique view makes it impossible to see if this northern building was linked to the gatehouse or not. Close inspection of the engraving shows that the roadside wall associated with the northern building is of subtly different heights. There is also the hint of a possible small roadside door.

A second pictorial source of information for the Friary, which has been used in published research, is a set of undated architect's drawings originally from the Walpole archives (Plate 6). These drawings closely match the current appearance of the gatehouse, and presumably were drawn to direct its restoration by Walpole's builders. In the absence of any contradictory evidence, the drawings naturally led to the assumption that they depict the original west window tracery still intact from the time the gatehouse was built. As the tracery fell out in c.1940, and is now missing, it has been impossible for this assumption to be tested.

The Friary church, once possibly up to c.49m (160ft) long9 with its nave measuring c.6.39 × 25.25m (c.21 × 83ft) internally, was at some point rebuilt as a barn.