Lendal Tower is a medieval tower that formed part of the city defences of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is located on the east bank of the River Ouse at the point where the river enters the walled city from the north-west. The building was used as a waterworks from 1616 until 1846 after which it was converted into offices. It has since been turned into rental accommodation.

History

Lendal Tower was built in and was originally circular and similar in appearance to North Street Postern Tower (formerly known as the Barker Tower) but has since been remodelled giving it additional strength and height. Along with North Street Postern Tower, on the opposite bank, it was built to control access to the city by way of an iron chain which was stretched across the river to impose the payment of tolls and from medieval times until the construction of Lendal Bridge in 1863 a ferry service crossed the river between the two towers. Lendal Tower is first recorded in the Custody of 1315 as (Tower of St Leonards). In 1569 bulwarks were added to the city defences as protection against the rebel Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland and repairs to the tower were undertaken in 1584–85. From 1616 the tower was being used as part of an effort to operate a piped water supply for the city.

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

notes that the structure was heightened in 1616; engravings by William Lodge (1678) depict it as being of three storeys. They also show it to be in a state of disrepair, as was the case in 1646, which may have been caused during the

Siege of York The siege of York in 1644 was a prolonged contest for York during the First English Civil War, between the Scottish Covenanter army and the Parliamentarian armies of the Northern Association and Eastern Association, and the Royalist Ar ...

. The tower was now known as 'the waterhouse' and in 1677 a new scheme was proposed for its use. A lease of 500 years was granted for a

peppercorn rent In legal parlance, a peppercorn is a metaphor for a very small cash payment or other nominal consideration, used to satisfy the requirements for the creation of a legal contract. It is featured in ''Chappell & Co Ltd v Nestle Co Ltd'' (960AC 87) ...

and permission was granted for improvements to be made. The building was enlarged and strengthened in 1682 to accommodate a lead cistern. Water was pumped in using either a windmill or a waterwheel but this proved problematic and within a few years it was replaced by a

horse engine A horse engine (also called a horse power or horse-power) is a (now largely obsolete) machine for using draft horses to power other machinery. It is a type of animal engine that was very common before internal combustion engines and electrificati ...

situated within the tower. The next major developments came in the 1750s with the installation of a

Newcomen steam engine The atmospheric engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, and is often referred to as the Newcomen fire engine (see below) or simply as a Newcomen engine. The engine was operated by condensing steam drawn into the cylinder, thereby creati ...

which was rebuilt to the designs of

John Smeaton John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was a British civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. Smeaton was the fir ...

in the 1780s when further expansion to the building took place. Hot and cold baths were also built in a building adjoining the tower. The engine was moved to a nearby engine house in 1836 then following the establishment of the York New Waterworks Company in 1846 the waterworks were moved to Acomb Landing. The tower was reduced in height and remodelled by

G.T. Andrews George Townsend Andrews (19 December 1804 – 29 December 1855) was an English architect born in Exeter. He is noted for his buildings designed for George Hudson's railways, especially the York and North Midland Railway. Andrews' architect's ...

who gave the tower a more medieval appearance by adding the

crenellation A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

s. It was retained by the waterworks company who converted it for use as their offices in 1932. It was designated as a Grade I

listed building 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, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 1954 and, as part of the city historic defences, is also protected as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. Since 2010 it has been refurbished for residential use before being marketed as rental accommodation.

Architecture

Lendal Tower was originally a circular building of in diameter, with a rounded turret to house a wooden spiral staircase, to which a 17th–century rectangular extension on the south-east of the structure has been added. The building is of

Magnesian limestone The Magnesian Limestone is a suite of carbonate rocks in north-east England dating from the Permian period. The outcrop stretches from Nottingham northwards through Yorkshire and into County Durham where it is exposed along the coast between Ha ...

some of which is thought to be from the nearby St Mary's Abbey which was dissolved in 1539 and later used as a source of stone for several buildings in the city. The tower has crenellated walls which were added in 1846 and a copper roof which has been converted into a roof terrace. The brickwork of the internal structure was used to support the 18th–century engines. A

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

was installed as part of the refurbishment in 1932 at which time the

Jacobean style The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James VI and I, with whose reign (1603–1625 in England) it is associated. At the start of James' reign there ...

decoration and panelling was also added.

Notes

References

External links

{{commons
Lendal Tower website
Grade I listed buildings in York Towers in North Yorkshire 14th-century establishments in England Towers completed in the 14th century