Historic houses · East of England
Norman Tower
Norman Tower — a Grade I-listed historic house in england-east, United Kingdom.
Julian P Guffogg — CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons licence
Plan your visit
- Typical visit
- 1 h–2 h
- Family-friendly
- Limited wheelchair access
About
Norman Tower is a Grade I-listed building in england-east, United Kingdom. Grade I status is conferred by Historic England (or Cadw, Historic Environment Scotland or NIEA equivalents) on buildings of exceptional national interest. See the linked Wikipedia article for full historical and architectural details.
Photo gallery
Heritage listing
The Norman Tower, also known as St James' Gate, is the detached bell tower of St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Originally constructed in the early 12th century, as the gatehouse of the vast Abbey of Bury St Edmunds, it is one of only two surviving structures of the Abbey, the other being Abbey Gate, located 150 metres to the north. The Abbey itself lies in ruins, approximately 200 metres to the east. As a virtually unaltered structure of the Romanesque age, the tower is both a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.
From the Wikipedia article
The Norman Tower, also known as St James' Gate, is the detached bell tower of St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Originally constructed in the early 12th century, as the gatehouse of the vast Abbey of Bury St Edmunds, it is one of only two surviving structures of the Abbey, the other being Abbey Gate, located 150 metres to the north. The Abbey itself lies in ruins, approximately 200 metres to the east. As a virtually unaltered structure of the Romanesque age, the tower is both a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The tower is considered amongst the finest Norman structures in East Anglia.
Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.
Background
Architecture
Typical of Norman buildings of the era, the tower's construction is substantial, with walls 36 ft long on each side and 8 ft thick. Formed of four stages, the tower is 86 ft high, with two, large, unvaulted arches on the west and east faces. That on the west face is more like a porch in construction, with a gabled and recessed arch, decorated with fish scale-like carvings. To each side of the gateway are two tiers of niches, featuring billet decoration. The eastern arch is plainer, still recessed but without the gable. The eastern face has three, tall blank arches with large windows in all but the centre arch in the second stage, that of the northern and southern faces have only two arches,…
Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Coordinates
- 52.2436, 0.7167
- County
- Suffolk
- District
- West Suffolk
- Parish
- Bury St Edmunds
- Postcode
- IP33 1RD
- Parliamentary constituency
- Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket
- Opening
- We-Fr 10:00-16:00; Sa 10:00-17:00
Sources
- wikidata: Q17526902 (CC0)
- wikipedia: The Norman Tower (Bury St Edmunds) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Frequently asked questions
- Where is Norman Tower?
- Norman Tower is in Suffolk, East of England, United Kingdom (postcode IP33 1RD), in the parish of Bury St Edmunds.
- Is Norman Tower a listed building?
- Norman Tower is officially recognised as Grade I listed.
- How do I get to Norman Tower?
- Drivers can navigate to postcode IP33 1RD. It sits within the Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket parliamentary constituency.