Preston Tower (old)

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 30/07/2019

NU 12 NE 11/161

ELLINGHAM CHATHILL PRESTON Preston Tower (old)

(Formerly listed as Preston Tower (old), ELLINGHAM)

22.12.69

GV II* Part of tower house. C14 restored 1864 by Henry Robert Baker Cresswell. Squared stone with Welsh slate roof. The remains include the south wall and two southern corner turrets of a larger hall-type tower house with four towers (cf. Haughton Castle and Langley Castle). The rear wall is of 1864.

Three storeys. Chamfered plinth. Recessed centre flanked by projecting turrets. In the centre a boarded door in C16, or C17 chamfered surround. Two slit windows with chamfered surrounds above door. Four similar windows in turret to left, three in turret to right. On second floor in centre, a large clock with ceramic face inscribed H R B C for the restorer. Embattled parapet. Higher turrets have rounded corbels below parapets. On left return a blocked, low, narrow C14 doorway with pointed arch and chamfered surround. To rear, similar clock face dated 1864.

Interior: springing of ground-floor vault visible. The turrets have pointed tunnel-vaulted chambers on each floor. Also in turrets three C16 or C17 fireplaces with chamfered surrounds; one has a lintel, with keystone. Many mason's marks. C14 doorways into turret rooms have pointed arches and chamfered surrounds.

Listing NGR: NU1837125432