The Gate was part of the properties of the Dukes of Beaufort after they inherited the lordship. In 1899, the 9th Duke put the building up for sale but, at the auction, C.W. Whalley, the Chairman of the Town Council, persuaded his representatives that the building be donated to the town. A plaque attached to the building records the Town Council's thanks to the Duke. The tiled pedestrian pathway on the southern side of the arch was cut through the Gate House and opened in 1928. The room over the archway was used in later centuries as a storeroom, workshop and office, before becoming the first home of the town's museum in 1949. A full restoration of the building took place in 1985–86, when an internal doorway apparently dating to the thirteenth century was discovered. A plaque to mark the building's restoration, designed and decorated by local artist Keith Underwood in the style of the eroded coats of arms to either side of it, was unveiled in March 1986 by the 11th Duke of Beaufort.
