Mount Batten Tower
MOUNT BATTEN TOWER, MOUNT BATTEN POINT
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1386253
- Date first listed:
- 01-May-1975
- List Entry Name:
- Mount Batten Tower
- Statutory Address:
- MOUNT BATTEN TOWER, MOUNT BATTEN POINT
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-08-09
- Reference:
- IOE01/05088/35
- Rights:
- © Mr Brian Richards. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1386253
- Date first listed:
- 01-May-1975
- List Entry Name:
- Mount Batten Tower
- Statutory Address 1:
- MOUNT BATTEN TOWER, MOUNT BATTEN POINT
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:
- MOUNT BATTEN TOWER, MOUNT BATTEN POINT
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- City of Plymouth (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SX 48644 53251
Details
PLYMOUTH
SX4953 MOUNT BATTEN POINT, Plymstock 740-1/68/603 Mount Batten Tower 01/05/75
GV II*
Coastal defence tower, set at the top of a cliff and quarried face. 1660s on the site of an earlier battery. Plymouth limestone rubble with some granite dressings; flat lead roof behind an embattled parapet with string course. PLAN: round plan, originally with basement store and heated room on each floor above, the upper floor under a domed stone vault; stone staircase within the thickness of the wall, the principal upper room doorway approached direct from the entrance doorway; steps up to parapet on the left and steps down to next room entrance on the right. There is a small store at the top of the stairs and a latrine set on the battlements. EXTERIOR: pointed-arched roll-moulded granite doorway mid-way up the wall; small granite stair windows irregularly disposed; 4-centred arched doorway to parapet store. INTERIOR: retains many original features including 4-centred arched granite doorway and 2 fireplaces, the lower fireplace with a timber lintel and the principal fireplace with moulded jambs and lintel and a triangular motif to the centre. FITTINGS: 3 C17 cannon on C20 replica carriages set up behind the battlements. HISTORY: erected as part of the post Civil War defences of Plymouth Sound and thought to be named after Captain Batten who was Governor of Plymouth during the Civil War. This tower is similar to Cromwell's Tower (1651) on Tresco, Isles of Scilly. (The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-: 649).
Listing NGR: SX4864453251
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 473638
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Cherry, B, The Buildings of England: Devon, (1989), 649
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 11:21:57.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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