The inn has been extended and altered from a core built in 1220 for visiting monks, re-using material from the old keep built by Bishop Roger c1130, which had been demolished on the same site in 1216 by permission of King John.
The abbey guest house was extended at the east end in the late 15th or early 16th century and the older structure partly refaced and reroofed.
Following the dissolution of the monasteries, the house was referred to as the Steward's Lodging and was used for some time as weavers' lodgings: "every corner of the vast houses of office which belonged to the abbaye", Leland noted in 1540, "be fulle of lumbes to weve clothe yn"  The present roofline and dormers date to the 17th century, and the west extension was added in 1908.

The Old Bell was listed as a Grade I listed building on 28 January 1949.
The 4-bay inn is built in limestone rubble with limestone dressings.
Mullion windows are a feature and the front is heavily covered in vegetation.
The inn has a central cross-axial stack, with a 16th-century two-bay extension and two large gable dormers on the east side.
The doorway here is dated to the 18th century with an architrave and shell hood.
On the west side is the main porch and entrance.
The inn has been extended and altered from a core built in 1220 for visiting monks, re-using material from the old keep built by Bishop Roger c1130, which had been demolished on the same site in 1216 by permission of King John. The abbey guest house was extended at the east end in the late 15th or early 16th century and the older structure partly refaced and reroofed. Following the dissolution of the monasteries, the house was referred to as the Steward's Lodging and was used for some time as weavers' lodgings: "every corner of the vast houses of office which belonged to the abbaye", Leland noted in 1540, "be fulle of lumbes to weve clothe yn"  The present roofline and dormers date to the 17th century, and the west extension was added in 1908. 
The Old Bell was listed as a Grade I listed building on 28 January 1949. The 4-bay inn is built in limestone rubble with limestone dressings. Mullion windows are a feature and the front is heavily covered in vegetation. The inn has a central cross-axial stack, with a 16th-century two-bay extension and two large gable dormers on the east side. The doorway here is dated to the 18th century with an architrave and shell hood. On the west side is the main porch and entrance.
The Old Bell, Malmesbury