Kyme Tower

Kyme Tower is a fortified tower dating from the mid-14th century, with alterations and the demolition of an attached house around 1725. It was originally built for Sir Gilbert de Umfraville and is constructed of coursed limestone ashlar. The tower is four-storey and square, standing 77 feet high, with a square projecting stair tower at the south-east corner that rises slightly higher. The tower features a deeply chamfered plinth and two chamfered bands on the upper floors, topped with chamfered battlements. The south facade, which served as the entrance front, shows scars from the later, now removed, attached house. The ground floor entrance doorway has a chamfered, triangular-headed surround of flush ashlar, with a similar doorway above it leading to the first floor. To the left, at a higher level, is a two-light window with reticulated tracery in a chamfered, pointed surround. Above, centrally placed on the second and third floors are single similar windows with hoodmoulds. The west, north, and east facades are similar, though the west side shows signs of later additions that have been removed. Each of these facades has a single-light, flat-headed lancet window on the ground floor, and a centrally placed two-light window with reticulated tracery in a pointed, chamfered surround with hoodmoulds on each of the three upper floors. The stair tower has a slightly projecting chamfered face where it joins the east side of the main tower, displaying five single-light, flat-headed lancets, while its south and east faces have three such windows. Internally, the ground floor room has an octagonal ribbed vault with a large central boss depicting the arms of Sir Gilbert de Umfraville. The floor of the first floor room is reportedly patterned, and known as 'the Chequered Chamber,' although this feature is not currently visible. Floors, ceilings, and roofs are absent from the upper floors, although remnants of their existence remain. The circular stone spiral staircase survives intact, topped by a central newel post which rises as a colonnette to support the panelled vault above. The lower level contains no fireplaces or guard robes, indicating it was initially intended purely for defensive purposes. The tower stands within a large, moated site. The attached house was demolished between 1720 and 1725, with its chimney-pieces purchased by Mr. Chaplin for Blankney Hall. Kyme Tower is the earliest of a series of fortified towers constructed in Lincolnshire, and it is the only one built of stone; the later examples, such as Tattershall Castle, the tower on the Moor at Woodhall Spa, the Hussey Tower at Boston, and Rochford Tower at Skirbeck, are all built of brick.