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
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1011669
- Date first listed:
- 23-Mar-1927
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 03-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.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 07-Jun-2026 at 10:18:59.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.