Bell's Castle and Adjoining Look-out Tower

Details

KEMERTON CP UPPER KEMERTON SO 93 NE 3/88 Bell's Castle and adjoining look-out tower - II

House and adjoining look-out tower. C17 or earlier origins, remodelled and extended early C19 for Admiral Bell, with further alterations and additions of 1904 and 1910 by Ernest Newton. Part limestone ashlar, part coursed lime- stone rubble with ashlar dressings. Roofs concealed behind tall embattled parapets which are swept upwards to square corner pinnacles. Ashlar chimney stacks incorporated each side of main west tower parapet. Asymmetrical plan composed of a main two-bay square west tower, a smaller single-bay east tower linked by a central two-bay range; a large L-shaped wing adjoins the east tower. Two and three storeys with basement; first floor stepped sill band to central range and east tower. Gothick style. Main south elevation: 2:2:1 bays, the outer tower bays project slightly and have corner pilaster strips which terminate in the parapet pinnacles. The basement level has 2-light chamfered mullioned windows, with square heads and 4-centred arched lights, in bays 1 to 4. The windows elsewhere are tall and narrow with 2-centred arched heads, raised architraves and 2-light leaded casements. The ground floor windows have Y-tracery. Bays 1 and 2 in the west tower have two ground floor windows (wider than the rest), two first floor windows and a central second floor window. Bays 3 and 4 of the central range have two windows on both floors. Bay 5, the east tower, has a first floor window with latticed glazing bars beneath the arched head. The former main entrance below has a square ashlar porch with a flat roof behind an embattled parapet with a string course at its base, and gabled and crocketted corner pinnacles; there is a tall weathervane on the left pinnacle. The porch has a chamfered 2-centred archway which has a hoodmould with returns. Within, 11 steps lead up to a similarly arched doorway with flanking pilasters and double doors. To the rear of the east tower is a lean-to early C20 addition with an embattled parapet and leaded casements. The east wing incorporates part of the C17 original building which was extended and altered by Newton. Coursed limestone rubble with plain tiled roof and brick ridge stacks. A two-bay range adjoins the main building and has a five-bay south return (composed of two two-bay wings and a central single-bay wing). Mainly two storeys. Windows are all leaded casements. Main south elevation: part adjoining main house has a ground floor 2-light window, two gabled half-dormers with 2-light windows and glazed double doors with flanking lights. In the angle with the main part is a ground floor 3-light, 2-light and single-light casement, a first floor 2-light window and two 3-light windows. There is a central half-glazed door and above it is a plaque decorated with the Holland-Martin crest. There is also an upper-level door approached by external ashlar steps with cast iron railings; at the top of the steps is a cast iron balustrade decorated with the figure of Neptune, fish and shells. The main entrance is now in the east side of the east wing and has a semi-circular metal canopy on wrought iron brackets and a half-glazed door. Interior: noted as having several pointed archways and pointed niches throughout. The look-out tower adjoins the south-west corner of the main building. It is said to be C17 or earlier. Coursed rubble with ashlar dressings. Square plan. Three stages with plain parapet and square corner pinnacles. The south front and east side elevations have a second stage semi-circular headed light with a hoodmould and a third stage basket-arched light. The west elevation has a ground floor rectangular light. Main entrance in east side has a chamfered basket-headed archway. The tower is linked to the main building by a short wall, about one yard long and 20 feet high. It has a 4-centred headed archway above which is a pointed-arched opening on moulded corbels. (Newton, W G: The Life and Works of Ernest Newton, London 1925).

Listing NGR: SO9532938253

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

148541

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Newton, W, The Work of Ernest Newton RA, (1925)

End of official list entry