One of the Entrance Gates to the Close Salisbury June 25 th 1870
Located on the southern side of the Cathedral Close where the road from Harnham enters, Harnham Gate is one of Salisbury’s historic medieval gateways. It was built in the early 14th century, around the same time as other Close gates like High Street Gate and St Ann’s Gate, as part of the great stone wall that enclosed the Close during the 1320s–1330s.This wall was constructed to protect the precinct of Salisbury Cathedral—home to clergy and cathedral officials, from theft and disorder as the bustling medieval city expanded around it.
Built from local Chilmark stone, Harnham Gate features a central pointed archway and originally had heavy wooden doors and a portcullis to control access. Like the other Close gates, it had rooms above the archway for the gatekeeper or porter, with small chambers flanking the entrance. A porter or watchman was stationed here to regulate entry, collect tolls, and ensure only authorized people entered the cathedral precinct. As Salisbury grew, the defensive purpose of the Close walls faded, and by the 18th and 19th centuries, the gates served mainly as ceremonial and administrative entry points. They became symbols of the cathedral’s independence from the city authorities, the Close remained a separate legal jurisdiction until the late 19th century. Remarkably, Harnham Gate survived Victorian-era redevelopment almost unchanged, unlike some of the other gates that were altered or removed.
The main entrance gate to Salisbury Cathedral Close is the historic High Street Gate (or North Gate), a medieval gatehouse built in the 14th century at the end of High Street, known for its imposing structure and its history as a lock-up, which is still locked nightly to protect the Close. High Street Gate It's the primary entrance from the city's High Street into the Close. Constructed between 1327 and 1342, it served as a gatehouse and a small jail, with a porter's lodge upstairs. It once had a portcullis (removed in 1745) and later added windows and a staircase. The medieval gates, including the High Street Gate, are locked nightly around 11 p.m. and opened at 6 a.m..
Other Gates: There are three medieval gates in total that guard the Close, all locked nightly, but the High Street Gate is the most famous and main entry point for visitors.
Richard Suter was born in Greenwich, Kent on 30th March 1798, to William Suter and his wife Sarah Knights. On 7th January 1825 he married Anne Ruth Burn.
English architect. As Surveyor to The Fishmongers' Company he designed the severe Presbyterian churches for Ballykelly (1825–7) and Banagher (1825) on the Company's Estate in County Londonderry, drawings of which were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1827. He was also responsible for the Model Farm (1823–4), the Lancasterian Schools (1828–30), the Company Agent's House (1830–2—now a hotel, much altered), a range of houses on the south side of the main road (1823–4), the lodge in the Presbyterian churchyard (1828), and the Dispensary (1829), all at Ballykelly, and all Classical. As Surveyor to Trinity House Corporation, he designed houses that were erected by Thomas Cubitt in 1821–3 on a site adjoining Trinity House. For The Fishmongers' Company he designed St Peter's Almshouses, Wandsworth, London (1849–51), and The Old School-House, Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk(1859), in an Elizabethan style.
On the 1841 Census Richard, an architect and lawyer, can be found living in London with his wife Ann (listed as Ruth) and their two children, Richard George and Andrew Burn. Living with them is Edward D Suter. 1851 finds the family living in Tottenham Court in London, by this time Andrew had left the home, but I am unable to trace him on the 1851 Census. In 1860 Andrew marries Amelia Damaris Harrison. Both Richard George and Andrew were to become ordained ministers, with Andrew later becoming a Bishop and emigrating to New Zealand. Sadly in 1854 Anne Ruth was to pass away. In 1861, widowed Richard, Justice of the Peace for Maidenhead, is living at Castle Hill, Maidenhead, Berkshire. In 1862 he married Elizabeth Anne Pocock. In 1871 and 1881 Richard and Elizabeth are still living in Castle Hill. Richard was to pass away on 1st March1883.
Richard Suter & Annesley Voysey, architects, had their office at number 35 Fenchurch Street, but they did not have it all to themselves as they shared the premises with W.C. Franks, a tea broker, who will get a separate post some other time. The earliest mention I found of Richard Suter in Fenchurch Street is in 1832 when he is listed at that address in a list of contributing members of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. It says that he had been a member since 1829, but that does not mean he was already at 35 Fenchurch Street in that year.(1) In fact, that seems unlikely as the Sun Fire Office records give Messrs. Short and Co., merchants, as paying the insurance premium on the premises in May 1830. The Directory of British Architects 1834-1914 give the year 1827, but I do not know on what evidence. When Suter and Voysey became partners is also uncertain, but they had known each other since at least 1825 as Suter is named as one of the executors of Voysey’s will which was dated 22 July, 1825. The address given for Suter in the will is Suffolk Street, Southwark. Voysey then lives at Conway Street, Fitzroy Square.