'Exciting' restoration project of medieval close

Houses on what is said to be the oldest continuously inhabited street in Europe are undergoing an "exciting" restoration.

Homes on Vicars' Close in Wells, Somerset, date back to the 14th Century and were built to provide accommodation for the Vicars Choral at Wells Cathedral.

The project will see some of the Grade I listed medieval properties restored, and the homes could be opened to public by 2027.

Nik Kitchridge, creative facilitator at Wells Cathedral, said: "The opportunity to give people more insight into its history, into its architecture - it's a really exciting opportunity for us."

Kitchridge said: "The building work started in 1348, which was the time of the Black Death."

Today Vicars' Close has 27 homes, along with a chapel, library and treasury. A dining hall is also connected to Wells Cathedral by a covered walkway.

Kitchridge said at the end of the project they will open up properties to show what the buildings were like at different periods in history.

One will capture life from the Georgian period through to the present day.

The current occupants still include all twelve men and women of the Vicars Choral, plus the organists and vergers.

The street is only about 140 metres (460 ft) long and has a deliberate optical illusion. It narrows slightly so it appears longer from one end and shorter from the other.

One person who calls the Close home is Melanie Lawlor.

She is eligible to live there as her husband is a verger with the Vicars Choral.

The homes are visited by many people each year, which she said had led to some people confusing then for tourist attractions.

"There was one group from Germany who wandered into someone's house when he left the door ajar," she said.

"It reminds you of how lucky you are to live where you do because it's so easy to forget what a special place it is when you're here everyday."

However, living amid such extensive works has had its challenges.

"It is like living on a building site literally, we've got scaffolders front and back working on windows and rooves simultaneously," she said.

"I think when they go we're actually going to miss them, they've become part of the place quite quickly.

"You do get people ask 'how can they live here?'

"If you're putting your suitcase in the car you get people saying 'hey look they're holiday homes'."

Jez Fry, capital works project manager at Vicars' Close, is in charge of the restoration.

He said they have discovered hidden antique wallpaper and the remains of a property built before the Vicars' Close houses.

"We don't have a clear idea on date yet, it's very difficult to date stonework, but we know that this window feature, which is now below ground level, is a style that predates Vicars' Close," Fry said.

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