Flow field in the plane of symmetry, upstream of circular and square cross-section blunt bodies mounted perpendicular to a flat plate with varying clearance between the obstacle tip and the flat plate, was experimentally studied in a water tunnel for a Reynolds numbers of 1400—3100. Qualitative aspects of the flow were captured using flow visualization. Detailed mapping of the flow field was carried out using planar particle image velocimetry (PIV). The existence of a multiple vortex system with characteristics similar to that of end-wall flows of surface-mounted obstacles with zero gap was noted. For large gap values, a jet-like flow was observed in the flow visualization; however, PIV measurements revealed the presence of the characteristic juncture vortex system even for such a configuration. The primary vortex of the square cylinder was observed to be further upstream as compared with the circular cylinder and moved closer to the cylinder surface with increasing Reynolds number. The vortex system for the square cylinder oscillated at a higher frequency. Increasing the tip gap resulted in the upstream movement of the primary vortex and reduction in amplitude and frequency of oscillation for both the cross-sections. The end-wall flow for the square cross-section cylinder was found to be more sensitive to variation in the tip gap.