Layer Marney Tower (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Layer Marney.
In the historic county of Essex.
Modern Authority of Essex.
1974 county of Essex.
Medieval County of Essex.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL92851748
Latitude 51.82260° Longitude 0.79677°

Layer Marney Tower has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are major building remains.

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

The gatehouse and remaining wings of a great early C16 house which was never completed. It was begun by the first Lord Marney who died in 1523 and his son in 1524. There has been some C20 restoration and a few small additions. The gatehouse is a remarkable and very fine example of early renaissance work and ornament. The King's Italian architect, Guialamo de Travizi, is said to have designed the building. It stands 80 ft high, built in red brick with terracotta dressings and diapering in flared headers. There are 3 storeys and on the south side Flanking seni-octagonal turrets of 8 storeys with subsidiary turrets of 7 storeys on the north side, square turrets. There is much fine original detail in the windows, parapets and bands of cusped panelling. The small west ring is of 2 storeys and attics, roofs tiled, and with windows and detail similar to that of the gatehouse but more restored, Small modern north wing. Original part of wing has a moulded band between the storeys and a number of original windows. This wing forms the north side of the outer courtyard. A barn, largely rebuilt, incorporating C13 material is on the east side The long gallery forms-the south side, 2 storeys in red brick with diapering in flared headers, and a number of original doorways and windows. The south side is divided into 8 bays by buttresses. The west end has a crow stepped gable. Internally the main block retains many original doorways with moulded or chamfered jambs and four centred arches. The eastern room of the west wing has a fireplace made of original moulded oak jambs and four centred. head. Extensive C16 panelling Re-set original terracotta fireplace in modern wing, has Corinthian pilasters, acanthus consoles and enriched entablature. Numerous other original fireplaces. Original plaster ceilings with moulded ribs, one forming a geometrical pattern and the other a pattern of intersecting lines. (Listed Building Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1223988
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 383525.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 11408; 11409; 11410.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Official site
  Historic Houses Association
  Wikipedia entry
Books
- Goodall, John, 2011, The English Castle 1066-1650 (Yale University Press) p. 417
  RCHME, 1922, An inventory of the historical monuments in Essex Vol. 3 (north-east) p. 157-8 no. 2 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Goodall, J., 27 April 2011, 'Martial splendour' Country Life Vol. 205.17 p. 56-61 online copy

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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.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

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.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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