Butley Abbey and Priory Gate House
Butley Abbey and Priory Gate House, Butley Abbey
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1030850
- Date first listed:
- 16-Mar-1966
- List Entry Name:
- Butley Abbey and Priory Gate House
- Statutory Address:
- Butley Abbey and Priory Gate House, Butley Abbey
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2006-07-12
- Reference:
- IOE01/14968/21
- Rights:
- © Mr Chris Durrant. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1030850
- Date first listed:
- 16-Mar-1966
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 02-May-1984
- List Entry Name:
- Butley Abbey and Priory Gate House
- Statutory Address 1:
- Butley Abbey and Priory Gate House, Butley Abbey
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- Butley Abbey and Priory Gate House, Butley Abbey
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Suffolk
- District:
- East Suffolk (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Butley
- National Grid Reference:
- TM 37474 49368
Details
TM 34 NE
5/2
BUTLEY
BUTLEY PRIORY
Butley Abbey and Priory Gate House
(Formerly listed as Butley Abbey Gatehouse under General)
16.3.66
GV
I
Mansion, former gatehouse to Butley Abbey. Early C14. Converted to residential use c.1734. Restored again in 1926 by W.D. Caröe. Stone and knapped flint with stone quoins and dressings. Roof raised in red brick to continuous springing: slated. Two storeys.
The main gabled carriageway runs north-south. The north front is flanked by two stages of the original buttressed towers which project forward. The south gabled front projects beyond the rear rooms of the towers. The north front has two sham windows in Decorated tracery either side of a similar glazed window. The sham windows are filled with flushwork. Below the windows is an armorial panel of thirty-five shields in five rows. The north towers each have a sham Decorated window above which is a straight headed window with three ogee headed lights. The original carriageway entrance has a depressed moulded pointed arch on stone ashlar jambs. To the left is a pedestrian entrance with pointed arch: both entrances are filled with timber studs, mullion windows and red herringbone brick infill. The south front has similar sham windows to those of the north and also a carriageway doorway of similar style with modern entrance door. The left and right hand rooms behind the towers have C18 sash windows in flush frames with glazing bars and gauged brick arches and red brick jambs.
Inside the main carriageway the ceiling is vaulted with stone ribs and stone infill; the smaller rooms either side are also vaulted with brick infill in domed form. There is also a fine Georgian staircase and some Elizabethan panelling.
The Abbey was founded in 1171 by Ranulph de Glanville, Justiciar of Henry II and the gatehouse is considered "one of the most ambitious and interesting buildings of the C14 in Suffolk". N. Pevsner (see The Buildings of England, Suffolk volume). The whole complex of the Abbey and Priory is fully documented and described in Journal of the Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 1934, by Messrs. J.L.N. Meyers and J.B. Ward Perkins.
Listing NGR: TM3747449368
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 285145
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Suffolk, (1974)
Journal of the Royal Archaeological Institute in Journal of the Royal Archaeological Institute, (1934)
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 03-Jun-2026 at 23:24:41.
Download a full scale map (PDF)© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100024900.© British Crown and SeaZone Solutions Limited 2026. All rights reserved. Licence number 102006.006.
End of official list entry