More information : (SP 41630564). Chapel and Pope's Tower (AT) (1)
The Chapel and Pope's Tower, together with the Great Kitchen are the principal remains of a C15th moated house. (2)
The tower, with a chapel on its ground floor, is named after Alexander Pope, to whom it was loaned in 1717-18 as a place to work on his translation of the Iliad. (3)
It is approximately 40ft high and is now used as a private museum, while the chapel is used for private services only. (4)
Pope's Tower is visibly of later construction, though the west wall is contemporary with the kitchen, probably having been an outer wall of the courtyard. (5)
Pope's Tower approx. 35m SE of Harcourt House. Former chapel, c.1470-71, probably by William Orchard for Sir Robert Harcourt. Formerly attached to the parlour end of the medieval manor house, demolished c.1750. (6)
Additional reference. (7)
Pope's Tower is of c.1460-71, the dating coming from heraldry in the chancel. The nave projects W of the tower and has a doorway that is probably Elizabethan. The nave was reserved for servants and the family used the room above.
See this authority for further details. (8)
Pope's Tower was originally attached to Harcourt Manor at the parlour end of the latter. It was built in c1460-1470, contemporary with the last phases of construction of the original manor, and has 16th century doors and 17th century wood panelling throughout. It is constructed of limestone ashlar and was probably designed by William Orchard who also designed similar buildings at Magdalene College in Oxfrord and Minster Lovell Hall. It has a crenellated parapet with gargoyles beneath, as does the detached Great Kitchen (see UID 983996). Although the original manor ceased to be occupied in the late 16th and 17th centuries the chapel was tower were still used, as was the Kitchen. The chapel is beneath the upper floors which appear to have provided lodgings. Certainly in 1717-1718 Alexander Pope was in residence and used the property as a base to translate the fifth volume of Homer's Iliad, demonstrated by graffiti purported to be by Pope on the inside wall. There is no evidence to suggest the original manor was moated. (6; 9) |