Hussey Tower |
| Hob Uid: 353942 | |
Location :
Lincolnshire
Boston
Non Civil Parish
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| Grid Ref : TF3308043630 |
| Summary : The standing and buried remains of a medieval brick fortified house. The house is belived to have been built in the mid to late 15th century for Richard Bennington. The tower was later owned by Lord Hussey, and following his death, in 1537, the estate was granted to the Corporation of Boston. A gatehouse was demolished in 1565, and repairs were made to the remainder of the buildings, which were then rented by Joseph Whiting. In the early 18th century further buildings were dismantled including the domestic range adjoining the tower, and in 1728 the lead and timber were removed from the tower. The tower is rectangular with an octagonal stair turret projecting from the north east corner. It measures 9 metres by 8 metres, with walls 1 metre in width, and stands three storeys high with a portion of the crenellated parapet. The tower is mainly of red brick with stone dressings. At ground floor level is a formerly rib-vaulted chamber which would have provided a storage area and is now entered by the doorway in the east wall. The tower was formerly part of a larger building as shown by the bonding and roof scars of a two storey range on the exterior of the east wall of the tower. The range, forming part of the domestic accommodation, was slightly narrower than the tower with communicating doorways between the range and the tower at ground and first floor levels. The former range, running east from the tower, will survive as buried remains. |
More information : [TF 3308 4362] Hussey Tower [GT.] (Remains of). (1)
Hussey Tower, late 15th or early 16th century, is the remnant of a house built either by Richard Benyngton or Sir John Hussey, afterwards Lord Hussey, who was beheaded for his part in the Pilgrimage of Grace [1536]. In the rental of the Guild of Corpus Christi "Richard Benyngton Toure" is mentioned in 1489, and the name "Benyngton Tower" appears again in 1564.
It is impossible to trace the original extent of Hussey Hall. The
Gate House, taken down in 1565, probably fronted the South End. The wall of the enclosure in which the tower stands is ancient and inside it many foundations may be traced. In the 18th and early 19th century various buildings were taken down. Mention is made of a `brew-house' and `mill-house'. Thompson (4) illustrates Hussey Hall which, he says, stood adjoining the road to Skirbeck, almost at its junction with South End.
Hussey Tower, scheduled. (2-5)
The remains of Hussey Tower stand within iron railways surrounded by warehouses and playing fields. No foundations of other buildings or walling could be traced.
See G.P.s AO/65/18/5-6. (6)
Roman coins found:
Boston, Hussey Tower: 1936, Mrs Rudkin (Boston Museum accessions). (7)
Detailed description of existing building and discussion of its context in history. (8)
Romano-British pot, jet or shale pendant and Medieval pottery found. (9-10)
Listed as a possible castle by Cathcart King. (13)
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