Tower Of The Former Church Of St Michael

The Tower of the former Church of St Michael, located on Eastgate Street in Gloucester, is a significant historical structure built between 1455 and 1472. It was originally part of the medieval church of St Michael, which was largely demolished in 1849, rebuilt in 1851, and ultimately taken down between 1955 and 1956. The tower has been adapted for use as a tourist information centre, with minor alterations made in 1980 for office use.

Constructed from ashlar stone and topped with a lead roof, the tower is a large, square belfry. The former entrance doorway is located on the west side facing Southgate Street, while access to the office on the ground floor is now through a 20th-century glazed screen that fills the archway between the tower and what was the nave of the church.

The exterior features three main stages, with massive offset clasping buttresses at the corners, which are capped by weathering courses that rise to the midpoint of the central stage. Above the buttresses, the angles of the tower are canted and slightly extruded, adorned with Perpendicular Gothic panels. Each face of the central stage has three bays of panels, and the south, west, and north faces each include a large four-light window with a central transom and rectilinear tracery, topped with a gablet and carved finial. The upper stage features large three-light belfry windows with a central transom, solid panels below, and louvres in the window arch's tracery, with trefoil-headed panels in the spandrels above. The tower is crowned with an embattled parapet that has elaborate tracery panelling, although the original pinnacles at the corners have been removed.

Inside, the central stage boasts an elaborate lierne vault, which is currently concealed by a false ceiling. The tower is also designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.