More information : (NU 18261771) Heiferlaw Tower (GT) (ruins of) (1)
Heiferlaw Tower was not built before 1470 (2). It belonged to
Alnwick Abbey and is mentioned in a survey of the Abbey's
possessions dated 1540. The tower is three storeyed, of grey sandstone, and measures 28'9" x 24'4". The floors were of wood with access by a wooden stair in the SW corner. There is a fireplace on the second storey. A panel in the east wall and another on the south wall bear the combined badges of the Abbot and Percy. These badges were not used conjointly until the time of Henry the fourth earl Percy and the building is therefore not earler than 1469. In the east wall is a small niche with a trefoil canopy,
suitable for a statue, but now empty. (3)
The walls of the tower, which is now just a shell, are 1.2m thick
and stand aproximately 7.0m high. (Cardinal points referred to by Tate are incorrect - east wall refers to NE wall and south wall to
SE wall, while SW corner should read south corner).
The entrance to the tower is by pointed doorway in the SW wall. All the windows are square headed. On the inside walls are corbels and joist holes to support the wooden floors, and in the south corner, grooves in the masonry indicate the site of the stairway.
The tower is in good condition. (4)
Condition unchanged. (5)
Heiferlaw Tower. Grade I. Lookout tower for Alnwick Abbey, dateable to 1470-89 from heraldry. Large squared stone; roofless. Rectangular 3-storey tower 8.76 x 7.4m externally. South elevation shows ground floor loop re-cut to Gothick quatrefoil, blocked square-headed 2-light window above (mullion missing) under panel with Alnwick Abbey and Percy arms, and 2nd-floor loop. Left return shows moulded 2-centred-arched doorway and 1st floor loop; right return shows loops to lower floors with similar heraldic panel and trefoil-headed niche above. 1st and 2nd floor loops to rear. Interior: 1st-floor fireplace with corbelled lintel; sockets for 1st-floor beams and corbels for 2nd floor. The Percy arms have a pair of fetterlocks (handcuffs) within the usual crescent, a form used by the 4th Earl of Northumberland, who also built the towerhouse at Hulne Friary (NU 11 NE 17). (6)
NU 183 177. Heiferlaw Tower. Scheduled No ND/60. (7) |