Description

TF 14 NE SOUTH KYME CHURCH LANE

7/14 Kyme Tower

GV I

Fortified tower. Mid C14 with additions, removed c.1725. Built for Sir Gilbert
de Umfraville. Coursed limestone ashlar. 4-storey, square tower 77 ft high, with
square projecting stair tower at the south-east corner which rises slightly higher
than the main tower. Deeply chamfered plinth and 2 chamfered upper floor bands,
topped with chamfered battlements. The south, entrance front, bears scars on the
ground and first floors of the later attached house which has since been removed.
The ground floor entrance doorway has a chamfered triangular headed, flush ashlar
surround. Immediately above it is a similar doorway into the first floor level.
To the left and at a higher level is a 2-light, reticulated tracery window in a
chamfered, pointed surround. Above, centrally placed on the second and third
floors are single similar windows with hoodmoulds. The west, north and east
fronts are identical, though the west front bears scars of later additions since
removed. Each front has on the ground floor a single light flat headed lancet,
and on each of the 3 upper floors a centrally placed 2-light reticulated tracery
window in a pointed chamfered surround with hoodmoulds. The stair tower has a
slightly projecting chamfered face where it joins the tower's east face, which has
5 single-light flat headed lancets, and on the south and east faces it has 3
single-light flat headed lancets. Interior: the ground floor room has an
octagonal ribbed vault with a large central boss bearing the arms of Sir Gilbert
de Umfraville. The floor of the first floor room is reputedly patterned, hence
its name 'the Chequered Chamber' thought this is not at present visible. No
floors, ceilings or roofs survive higher up, though evidence for them does
survive. The circular stone spiral staircase survives intact, with at the top a
central newel post which rises as a colonnette to support the panelled vault
above. The lower contains no fireplaces or guard robes, and it was presumably
intended purely for defence, it stands within a large moated site. The attached
house was demolished between 1720 and 1725, when chimney-pieces were bought by
Mr Chaplin for Blankney Hall. This tower is the earliest of a series of fortified
towers built in this part of Lincolnshire, it is the only one built of stone, the
later ones like Tattershall Castle, The Tower on the Moor at Woodhall Spa, the
Hussey Tower at Boston and Rochford Tower at Skirbeck are all built of brick.

Listing NGR: TF1685849622

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17530788

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)