English Heritage considers the building to be "the finest medieval gatehouse in Cumbria". It closely resembles the larger fortifications at Thornton and Tynemouth abbeys, forming a three-storey building built of coursed red sandstone, and now stands on the edge of the modern Wetheral Priory Farm, which occupies the site of the original priory. The gatehouse is across, with the floors linked by a spiral staircase in the north-east corner, and an adjacent barrel vaulted cellar. The marks of the range of buildings that once ran alongside the gatehouse can be seen on the external walls, and the gatehouse is topped by battlements.