In 1451 Bishop Beckynton granted to the town a supply of water from the Wells within his palace gardens. A cistern inside this well house collected water. This ‘head’ connected enough pressure to force a supply through pipes to an outlet in the market place.

Overflow water from the marketplace wellhead ran down a gutter, washing blood and offal away from butcheries along the high street.

The statue on top of the well house is Bishop Beckynton’s hunting dog, a Talbot hound.