Norman Tower
NORMAN TOWER, ABBEY PRECINCTS
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1375555
- Date first listed:
- 07-Aug-1952
- List Entry Name:
- Norman Tower
- Statutory Address:
- NORMAN TOWER, ABBEY PRECINCTS
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2004-07-27
- Reference:
- IOE01/12829/09
- Rights:
- © Mr Richard Storey. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1375555
- Date first listed:
- 07-Aug-1952
- List Entry Name:
- Norman Tower
- Statutory Address 1:
- NORMAN TOWER, ABBEY PRECINCTS
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- NORMAN TOWER, ABBEY PRECINCTS
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Suffolk
- District:
- West Suffolk (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Bury St. Edmunds
- National Grid Reference:
- TL 85572 64078
Details
BURY ST EDMUNDS
TL8564SE ABBEY PRECINCTS 639-1/8/104 Norman Tower 07/08/52
GV I
Monastic gate, now used as a belfry for the Cathedral Church of St James (qv). Built under Abbot Anselm between 1120 and 1148; Romanesque. Restored by LN Cottingham in 1846/7. Barnack stone. Rectangular, in 4 stages, with the base now well below the present ground level. Richly ornamented. A large, unvaulted gateway has heavy block capitals to the columns and large roll-mouldings. The west face is the most ornate, with a sculptured inner order and the arch projecting like a porch with a gable and fishscale decoration. To each side of the gateway are 2 tiers of niches with billet decoration; short buttresses above have intersecting arches and pyramid roofs. The 2nd stage has 2 tall blank arches with small 2-light windows within them. The 3rd and 4th stages each have 3 deep window openings, divided by colonnettes and hood-moulds with billet decoration: below the 3rd stage openings are paired blank arches; below the 4th stage blank roundels. The details of the 3 upper stages on the west are repeated on each of the other faces. Scheduled Ancient Monument. (BOE: Pevsner N: Radcliffe E: Suffolk: London: 1974-: 138).
Listing NGR: TL8557264078
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 466456
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Suffolk, (1974), 138
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 09-Jun-2026 at 18:37:35.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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