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Tyne and Wear HER(139): Benwell tower - Details

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Benwell Tower, Benwell Lane, Benwell


139


Newcastle


Benwell tower


Benwell


NZ26SW


Defence


Fortified House


Tower House


Medieval


C16


Documentary Evidence


The earliest reference to a tower is in documents from 1538-39 where it is contained in a list of property lately belonging to the priors of Tynemouth. Both then and in the 1608 Survey of Crown Property it is described as the manor house. It has been suggested that "a gabled residence with projecting chimney stacks" was added to the south-west angle of the tower in the late medieval period, and that then, or earlier, the whole was enclosed by a courtyard. Antiquarian drawings show a plain oblong tower three storeys high with a crenellated papapet, but no medieval windows are visible. In the mid 18th century the house was largely rebuilt, but the house and tower were demolished in 1831, and replaced by the present Benwell Tower.


2118


6450


NZ21186450



<< HER 139 >> H. Bourne, 1736, History of Newcastle p. 113 J. Brand, 1789, History of Newcastle, I, p. 111 note s. W.H. Knowles, 1922, Benwell Tower, Newcastle, Archaeologia Aeliana, 3, XIX, pp. 88-98 M.H. Dodds,1930, Northumberland County History, XIII, pp. 215, 227-230 W.S. Gibson, 1846, The History of the Monastery of Tynemouth, I, p. 225; Archaeological Research Services, 2010, The Mitre, Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyne - Archaeological Assessment and Building Recording; J. Ewart, no date, Plan of Benwell Tower Estate near Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle Libraries L912.2 N537B, https://www.flickr.com/photos/newcastlelibraries/26234231395/in/album-72157666225808630/

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