Servats Tower, Bucklesbury (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Queen's Tower of Sernat; Sernes Tower in Bucklesburie; Sewtes; la Tour Servat; Cernets towre; Cernettes towre; Surnetistour; Sylvestre tour; Seruesse; Service;

In the civil parish of City Of London.
In the historic county of London and Middlesex.
Modern Authority of City and County of the City of London.
1974 county of Greater London.
Medieval County of City of London.

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ326810
Latitude 51.51305° Longitude -0.09021°

Servats Tower, Bucklesbury has been described as a probable Palace, and also as a certain Fortified Town House.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Licence to crenellate issued to Willielmus Servat, civis et mercator in 1305 quandam turellam ultra portam mansi sui in Civitate praedicta, petra et calce de novo construere et Kernellare (To build anew in stone and lime and to crenellate a tower over the gate of his house within the City). This stood on the north side of Bucklesbury, with the Walbroke as part of its east boundary. Stow called the building 'an ancient and strong tower of stone', it was demolished in late C16.

Sernes Tower in Bucklesberie, was sometimes the kinges house. Edward the third in the eighteenth yeare of his reigne, appoynted his Exchaunge of monyes therein to be kept, and in the 32. hee gaue the same Tower to his free Chappell of Saint Stephen at Westminster. (Stow)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1305 Oct 3 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Sources of information, references and further reading

Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Books
- Renn, Derek., 2014, 'The other towers of London' in Hidden histories and records of antiquity; essays on Saxon and medieval London for John Clark, curator emeritus, Museum of London (London and Middlesex Archaeology Society Special Paper 17) p. 32-5
  Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 439
  Colvin, H. and Foister, S. (eds), 1996, The Panorama of London c. 1544 by Anthonis van den Wyngaerde (London Topographical Society 151) V28
  Schofield, J., 1995, Medieval London Houses (Yale University Press) p. 169, No. 42
  Lobel, M.D. (ed), 1989, The City of London from prehistoric times to c.1520 British Atlas of Historic Towns Vol. 3 (Oxford University Press) p. 93 online copy
  Prockter, A., Taylor, R. and Fisher, J. (eds), 1979, The A to Z of Elizabethan London (London Topographical Society 122) X199
  Harben, H.A., 1918, 'Sernes Tower' A Dictionary of London (London) p. 525 online transcription
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 405 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Davis, Philip, 2010-11, 'Crenellated town houses in Medieval England' Castle Studies Group Journal Vol. 24 p. 270-91
  Coulson, C., 1994, 'Freedom to Crenellate by Licence - An Historiographical Revision' Nottingham Medieval Studies Vol. 38 p. 119-20
  Holmes, M., 1966, 'An recorded map of London' Archaeologia Vol. 100 p. 119 pl XLIXb
  Honeybourne, M.B., 1965, 'The Reconstructed Map of London under Richard II' London Topographical Record Vol. 22 p. 67-8
  Kingsford, C.L., 1920, 'Historical Notes on Medieval London Houses (Part 3)' London Topographical Record Vol. 12 p. 26-7
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1898, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward I (1301-1307) Vol. 4 p. 379 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Stype, John, 1720, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster Vol. 1 bk1 p. 63 online copy
  Kingsford, C.L. (ed), 1908, A Survey of London, by John Stow: Reprinted from the text of 1603 Vol. 1 p. 44-71 online copy
  Agas, c. 1558, map of London
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Keene, D., 1987, The Walbrook Study: a Summary Report (MS in library of Institute of Historical Research, University of London)

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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