Description

BURY ST EDMUNDS

TL8564SE ABBEY PRECINCTS 639-1/8/104 Norman Tower 07/08/52

GV I

Monastic gate, now used as a belfry for the Cathedral Church of St James (qv). Built under Abbot Anselm between 1120 and 1148; Romanesque. Restored by LN Cottingham in 1846/7. Barnack stone. Rectangular, in 4 stages, with the base now well below the present ground level. Richly ornamented. A large, unvaulted gateway has heavy block capitals to the columns and large roll-mouldings. The west face is the most ornate, with a sculptured inner order and the arch projecting like a porch with a gable and fishscale decoration. To each side of the gateway are 2 tiers of niches with billet decoration; short buttresses above have intersecting arches and pyramid roofs. The 2nd stage has 2 tall blank arches with small 2-light windows within them. The 3rd and 4th stages each have 3 deep window openings, divided by colonnettes and hood-moulds with billet decoration: below the 3rd stage openings are paired blank arches; below the 4th stage blank roundels. The details of the 3 upper stages on the west are repeated on each of the other faces. Scheduled Ancient Monument. (BOE: Pevsner N: Radcliffe E: Suffolk: London: 1974-: 138).



Listing NGR: TL8557264078

External Links

• Norman Tower at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17526902

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

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  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
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  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
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  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings