Description

TEWKESBURY

SO83SE ABBEY PRECINCTS
859-1/2/352 Abbey Gatehouse
04/03/52
(Formerly Listed as:
ABBEY PRECINCTS
Gatehouse to Abbey House)

GV I

Gatehouse to Benedictine Abbey precincts, modified for holiday
use by Landmark Trust (1991). Late C15 or early C16. Guiting
stone ashlar and lias, lead roof.
PLAN: large square 2-storey gatehouse linked left to Abbey
House (qv), and right to Abbey Barn (qv).
EXTERIOR: wide pointed arch in 2 moulded orders with moulded
drip beneath two 2-light cusped hollow-chamfered stone
casements flanking central statue niche with decorative
canopy. Boldly crenellated top above hollow-mould cornice with
central angel and end gargoyles and 3 leaf decorations each
side. Mid offset moulded string, diagonal buttresses to 2
offsets, plinth. Set back from outer opening approx 2.5m is
doorway to 4-centred head in double-chamfer surround with
heavy C19 doors, with small 4-centred opening and door in
moulded surround, to left. Above is central ribbed vault with
half-vault each side.
Internal side walls in large coursed lias blocks. The inner,
SE front is as outer, but without central statue niche, and
with series of putlog holes each side of opening, which has no
doors. Internally is vaulted roof in 1+2 half bays as outer
vestibule. Side walls, in lias, contain small 4-centred
doorways with plank doors in heavy flush quoin surrounds; that
to right (SW) side gives to spiral stone stair contained in
projecting ashlar turret on that side, the turret finishing
below main parapet level.
INTERIOR: one large room at first floor, with heavy beamed
compartmental roof structure of 1950s reconstruction carried
on series of carved corbels, mainly C19, but some C16. On NE
wall a large dressed Guiting stone fireplace with moulded
4-centred arch, all brought forward from main wall plane. At
time of survey being fitted with new oak partitions for
Landmark Trust.
VCH records that by 1849 the Gatehouse was badly dilapidated,
and was then restored by John Medland, architect, with masonry
by Thomas Collins; the carved oak doors are from 1855.
(VCH: Gloucestershire: London: 1968-: 125).

Listing NGR: SO8897032378

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Abbey Gatehouse, Tewkesbury at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q4664008

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

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House