Paterchurch Tower

Last updated

Paterchurch Tower
Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire
PaterchurchTower&Storehouse.jpg
Paterchurch Tower and the adjoining storehouse in Pembroke Dockyard
Wales location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Paterchurch Tower
Coordinates 51°41′36″N4°57′22″W / 51.6934°N 4.9562°W / 51.6934; -4.9562
Grid reference grid reference SM95760355
Type Fortified tower
Site information
Open to
the public
No
Site history
MaterialsRubble stone
Listed Building – Grade I

Paterchurch Tower is a Grade I-listed medieval fortified tower in Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It received its name from one of the families that owned the land. While its exact function is not known, it probably served as a pele tower for the manorial complex (now demolished) in which it was situated.

Contents

History

The tower is the last remaining structure of a manorial complex whose surviving ruins were torn down with the expansion of Pembroke Dockyard in 1844. [1] It received its name from the de Paterchurch family which originally owned the land. It probably served as a pele tower as there is no evidence of a church on site. [2]

The land around the tower was purchased in 1759 by the Board of Ordnance to build an artillery battery to defend the interior of Milford Haven Waterway from attack. It was originally outside the dockyard walls when they were built in the mid-1810s, but expansion of the dockyard in 1844 brought it inside the walls. [3] Bones were discovered around the base of the tower when workshops were built around it. [2]

Description

It is a three-storey building about 35-foot-high (10.7 m) with a crenellated parapet. The tower's rubble stone walls range in thickness from 2.5 to 4 feet (0.8 to 1.2 m). [4] Each floor has a single vaulted chamber with plastered vaults in the upper two storeys. [5]

Status

The building is currently owned by Pembrokeshire County Council, who placed it up for sale in July 2013. [6]

Notes

  1. Tiffany, p. 34
  2. 1 2 "Paterchurch Tower". Gatehouse. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  3. Tiffany, pp. 32–34
  4. Tiffany, p. 31
  5. "Paterchurch Tower, the Dockyard, Pembroke Dock". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  6. "'Balance needs to be struck' over sale of Pembrokeshire's historic buildings". Western Telegraph. Retrieved 28 April 2016.

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pembroke, Pembrokeshire</span> Human settlement in Wales

Pembroke is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 7,552. The names of both the town and the county have a common origin; both are derived from the Cantref of Penfro: Pen, "head" or "end", and bro, "region", "country", "land", which has been interpreted to mean either "Land's End" or "headland".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woolwich Dockyard</span> Naval dockyard in Kent, England; in use from 1512 to 1869

Woolwich Dockyard was an English naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich in north-west Kent, where many ships were built from the early 16th century until the late 19th century. William Camden called it 'the Mother Dock of all England'. By virtue of the size and quantity of vessels built there, Woolwich Dockyard is described as having been 'among the most important shipyards of seventeenth-century Europe'. During the Age of Sail, the yard continued to be used for shipbuilding and repair work more or less consistently; in the 1830s a specialist factory within the dockyard oversaw the introduction of steam power for ships of the Royal Navy. At its largest extent it filled a 56-acre site north of Woolwich Church Street, between Warspite Road and New Ferry Approach; 19th-century naval vessels were fast outgrowing the yard, however, and it eventually closed in 1869. The former dockyard area is now partly residential, partly industrial, with remnants of its historic past having been restored.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milford Haven</span> Town and community in Wales

Milford Haven is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has been used as a port since the Middle Ages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pembroke Dock</span> Human settlement in Wales

Pembroke Dock is a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Pembroke on the banks of the River Cleddau. Originally Paterchurch, a small fishing village, Pembroke Dock town expanded rapidly following the construction of the Royal Navy Dockyard in 1814. The Cleddau Bridge links Pembroke Dock with Neyland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatham Dockyard</span> Former Royal Navy Dockyard in Kent

Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stack Rock Fort</span> 19th century fort in Pembrokeshire, Wales

Stack Rock Fort is a fort built on a small island in the Milford Haven Waterway, Pembrokeshire, Wales. A 3-gun fort was built between 1850 and 1852, and then upgraded from 1859 to 1871 with a new building that completely encased the original gun tower. It is now a Grade II* listed building and a scheduled monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Navy Dockyard</span> State-owned shipbuilding and maintenance facilities for the British navy

Royal Navy Dockyards were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial complexes in Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HMNB Portsmouth</span> Operating base in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy

His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy. Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is located on the eastern shore of Portsmouth Harbour, north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight. For centuries it was officially known as HM Dockyard, Portsmouth: as a Royal Dockyard, Portsmouth functioned primarily as a state-owned facility for building, repairing and maintaining warships; for a time it was the largest industrial site in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cresswell Castle</span>

Cresswell Castle is a castle half a mile north of the village of Cresswell Quay, Pembrokeshire, west Wales. It is situated on the banks of the River Cresswell in what is currently private land. The buildings were originally a 13th-century stone fortified manorial complex, founded by the Augustinian Priory of Haverfordwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haverfordwest Castle</span>

Haverfordwest Castle is a castle located in the town centre at Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, south Wales, located in a naturally defensive position at the end of a strong, isolated ridge. The castle was established during Norman times in 1120 but much of the architecture remaining today is dated to 1290. For centuries the castle was an English stronghold. There are several other notable castles in area; Wiston Castle lies 6 miles (9.7 km) to the northeast and Pembroke Castle lies 12 miles (19 km) to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pembroke Dockyard</span> Former Royal Navy Dockyard in Pembrokeshire, Wales

Pembroke Dockyard, originally called Pater Yard, is a former Royal Navy Dockyard in Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clifton Hall, Cumbria</span> Manor house in Cumbria,England

Clifton Hall was a fortified manor house in the village of Clifton, Cumbria. Dating from around 1400, it was constructed by either Elianor Engaine or her son-in-law William Wybergh, and was held by the Wybergh family until the 19th century. Initially taking the form of an "H"-plan design built around a central hall, around 1500 a three-storey stone pele tower was added, providing both additional security and acting as a status symbol for the family. At the start of the 17th century a new stone hall was added to the south of the tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angle, Pembrokeshire</span> Human settlement in Wales

Angle is a village, parish and community on the southern side of the entrance to the Milford Haven Waterway in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The village school has closed, as has the village shop. There is a bus link to Pembroke railway station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HMNB Devonport</span> Operating base in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy

His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Royal Navy. The largest naval base in Western Europe, HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheerness Dockyard</span> Former Royal Navy Dockyard in Kent, England

Sheerness Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pele Tower, Angle</span> Building in Pembrokeshire, Wales

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defensible Barracks, Pembroke Dock</span>

The Defensible Barracks at Pembroke Dock, is a Grade II* listed, Victorian-era fortification and barracks in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. It is a 20-sided stone fort surrounded by a dry moat with masonry walls. A parade ground occupies the centre of the fort. It was built in the mid-1840s to house the Royal Marines based in Pembroke Dockyard and to protect the dockyard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Pembroke Dock</span> Former Royal Air Force station in Pembrokeshire, Wales

Royal Air Force Pembroke Dock, or more simply RAF Pembroke Dock, was a Royal Air Force Seaplane and Flying boat station located at Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The Royal Navy contingent left in 1926 with the Royal Air Force occupying the site from 1 January 1930. During the initial stages of World War II, it became the home of two Dutch flying boats and their squadron personnel as well as hosting RAF, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and United States naval aircrews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Cove West Archaeological Precinct</span> Historic site in New South Wales, Australia

Sydney Cove West Archaeological Precinct is a heritage-listed precinct that contains The Rocks police station, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, car park, parks, shops and roads located at 112–156 George Street, in the inner city Sydney suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The precinct previously contained a commissariat store, Maritime Services Board offices, dockyard and Department of Labour & Industry offices. Buildings in the precinct were developed in various stages since 1797 to date, with heritage-listed buildings dating from 1797 to 1939. The precinct is also known as the Museum of Contemporary Art, Maritime Services Board, Colonial Government naval dockyard, Commissariat Stores, Colonial Hospital, Kings and Queens Wharf and First Fleet Park. The property is owned by Property NSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 5 August 2011.

William Scamp was an English architect and engineer. After working on the reconstruction of Windsor Castle to designs of Sir Jeffry Wyatville, he was employed by the Admiralty from 1838 to his retirement in 1867. Throughout his career of almost three decades, Scamp designed naval facilities in Britain, Malta, Gibraltar and Bermuda.