Pele Tower, Angle

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Pele Tower, Angle
Peles Tower Angle.jpg
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Location within Pembrokeshire
General information
Location Angle, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Coordinates 51°41′06″N5°05′18″W / 51.68500°N 5.08833°W / 51.68500; -5.08833

The Pele Tower in Angle, Pembrokeshire, in southwest Wales is a Grade I-listed stone fortified tower dating back to the 14th century and is the only remaining example of a pele tower in Wales. [1] [2]

Angle, Pembrokeshire village in Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom

Angle is a village, parish and community on the southern side of the entrance to the Milford Haven Waterway in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It has a school, two pubs, a village shop with a post office and St Mary's church. There is a bus link to Pembroke railway station.

Wales Country in northwest Europe, part of the United Kingdom

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi). Wales has over 1,680 miles (2,700 km) of coastline and is largely mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon, its highest summit. The country lies within the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate.

Fortified tower defensive structure used in fortifications

A fortified tower is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and fulfil different functions.

Contents

History

The tower has been dated to about the 14th century and appears to have been part of a moated medieval mansion. Until about 1930 the remains of another building of similar dimensions were visible where the northern arm of the moat used to be and where Castle Farm is today. The tower has traditionally been known as the "Old Rectory" and lies within the rectorial glebe of the Parish of Angle. One source suggests that the tower was originally constructed and occupied by the Sherbornes, then Lords of Angle, but this has not been confirmed by other sources. The building was listed with Grade I status on 14 May 1970, as it represented a "very important specimen of mediaeval defensive domestic architecture". [3]

A rector is, in an ecclesiastical sense, a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations. In contrast, a vicar is also a cleric but functions as an assistant and representative of an administrative leader. The term comes from the Latin for the helmsman of a ship.

Glebe area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest

Glebe is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved to the church.

Listed building Collection of protected architectural creations in the United Kingdom

A listed building, or listed structure, is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, Cadw in Wales, and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency in Northern Ireland.

Description

The 9.1-metre-high (30 ft) tower is about 4.5 metres (15 ft) square. [4] It stands on the northern bank of a tidal creek which runs down to the bay; a moat formerly surrounded the site on the other three sides. The upper floors and roof are missing, but the sandstone rubble walls of the tower are nearly complete. On the north side of the tower, the masonry is random rubble, but the other three sides are built in regular courses with a few small stones to align them. The stair turret protrudes about 0.4 metres (1 ft 4 in) on the north and east sides. At the top of the building are two-course corbels on all sides except the turret which suggest a parapet walk with Machicolations. The 1.2-metre-high (3 ft 11 in) doorway is on the east side of the first floor and has a late-medieval segmented arch. Above it in the second storey are two slits that were most likely for the drawbridge chains. Corbels are placed above them to support a hood. [3]

Sandstone A clastic sedimentary rock composed mostly of sand-sized particles

Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized mineral particles or rock fragments.

Corbel piece of masonry jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight

In architecture a corbel is in medieval architecture a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the structure. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger" in England.

Parapet barrier which is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure

A parapet is a barrier which is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian parapetto. The German equivalent Brüstung has the same meaning. Where extending above a roof, a parapet may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the edge line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a fire wall or party wall. Parapets were originally used to defend buildings from military attack, but today they are primarily used as guard rails and to prevent the spread of fires.

Each storey consists of a single room about 3.6 metres (11 ft 10 in) square. The tower has a slightly pointed vaulted basement, which was likely used as a cellar or for storage, [5] a first floor approached by a stair, partly external and partly inside, and a second and third storey accessed through a newel staircase. [6] There are small square windows on the south side facing the creek; all of the other openings are arrow slits. All the floors have fireplaces installed; on the north facing wall for the first and second stories, sharing the same chimney flue inside the wall that ends in a nearly complete chimney. The fireplace for the third storey is on the east wall; all three have stone bressummers. The garderobe is in the east wall of the first storey. [3]

Bressummer

A bressummer, breastsummer, summer beam are load bearing beams in a timber framed building. The word summer derived from sumpter or French sommier, "a pack horse", meaning "bearing great burden or weight". "To support a superincumbent wall", "any beast of burden", and in this way is similar to a wall plate.

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References

  1. ↑ Plant, Steve (2014). A Wander Around the Coast of Wales. FastPrint Publishing. p. 195. ISBN   1780357613.
  2. ↑ Hull, Lise (2006). Britain's Medieval Castles. Praeger Publishers. p. 117. ISBN   0275984141.
  3. 1 2 3 "Pele Tower - Angle - Pembrokeshire - Wales". www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "Coflein". www.coflein.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  5. ↑ King, D.J.C. (1962). "The Castles of Pembrokeshire". The Archaeological Journal. 119: 313–316.
  6. ↑ Edwards, Emily Hewlett (1909). Castles and Strongholds of Pembrokeshire. Tenby: J.E. Arnett, The Library. pp. 39–40.
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