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Marmion Tower (former gatehouse of Tanfield Castle fortified manor)

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1011669
Date first listed:: 23-Mar-1927

External view of tower showing oriel canted window. — Uploaded by Kenneth Stanford This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1011669
Date first listed:: 23-Mar-1927
Date of most recent amendment:: 02-Apr-1992

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: North Yorkshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: West Tanfield
National Grid Reference:: SE 26776 78718

Reasons for Designation

Fortified manors are the residences of the lesser nobility and the richer burgesses and date from the late twelfth century and throughout the rest of the Middle Ages. Generally they comprise a hall and residential wing, domestic ranges, and fortifications such as a moat or crenellated wall or both. A gatetower was a common feature of the better equipped and the gatehouse of Tanfield Castle fortified manor, known as Marmion Tower, is an important and impressive example, being largely intact.

Details

Marmion Tower is situated in the village of West Tanfield, next to the parish church and on the north bank of the River Ure. The tower is the fifteenth century gatehouse of the now demolished Tanfield Castle. The monument, at this time, comprises the tower and the ground beneath it only, as the precise location of the castle, which was a fortified manor house of the Marmion family, has not yet been located. The tower is a three storey building, roughly square in plan, with a projection at the north-west corner containing a newel stair. The gateway is barrel vaulted and has a guardroom to the south. The stair leads to the rooms above and ends in a turret above the battlements of the gatehouse. The tower is a Grade I Listed Building and has been in State care since 1927. Excluded from the scheduling are all English Heritage fittings such as grilles and notices and the gates leading to the Old Rectory. The ground beneath these fittings is, however included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 13274
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of North Riding of Yorkshire, (1914), 382-85

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.