|
Date: |
|
Description: | The remains of part of a fortified medieval manor house which was modified throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. The only upstanding remains of the house are the gatehouse tower, a large tower house of circa 1400 built over the west gateway of the house. The gatehouse was built by Sir William Hylton, whose family had held the manor since at least 1157. The gatetower was primarily the residence of the barons Hylton throughout the 15th and 16th centuries. It survives as a substantial rectangular building and was originally four-storeyed. The ground floor included a central gate-passage flanked by vaulted chambers. The first floor was occupied by the baron's hall and solar, and also a kitchen with an attached buttery and pantry. A second similar private chamber lay above, on the second floor, and a third existed above the oratory. A fourth lay above the service rooms, while a fifth and sixth occupied the next two floor levels. Around all but the north wall of the tower, the parapets round the roof and turrets are machicolated. Statues of men-at-arms stand on the battlements above the west front of the tower while below, on the face of the central turrets and the wall above the gate, is a rich display of medieval heraldic devices which, by their form, provide important evidence of when the tower was built. By 1700 the gatehouse became the basis for a large house, which was built in two phases between 1700 and 1746. A north wing was added between 1700 and 1712, and a matching south wing was constructed between 1712 and 1746. The north wing no longer survives as a standing feature and the south wing has three courses of ashlar sandstone blocks upstanding. The wings were demolished in the 1860s when the windows and entrance were 'medievalised' and the interior stripped of its 18th century modifications to give the gatetower its present appearance. | Subjects: | Country House Defence Tower House Domestic Gatehouse Fortified Manor House | Source: | English Heritage - Viewfinder | Creator: | National Monuments Record | Identifier: | http://pastscape.english-heritage.org.uk... | Language: | en | Go to resource |
|
|