Tower on the Moor

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Woodhall

In the civil parish of Woodhall Spa.
In the historic county of Lincolnshire (Modern Authority of Lincolnshire, 1974 county of Lincolnshire).

The standing and buried remains of a medieval brick fortified tower known as the Tower on the Moor. The tower is beleved to have been built in the mid C15 as a hunting lodge for Ralph, Lord Cromwell, whose fortified house was located 6km to the south at Tattershall Castle. Documentary sources indicate that the tower was partly dismantled in the latter part of C15 when brick from the Tower on the Moor were used for repairs at Tattershall Castle. The remains of the tower survive as a buried feature, although a projecting stair turret still stands. Standing four storeys high, it is built chiefly of red brick. Archaeological excavation of part of the buried foundations has indicated that the tower measures 9m square.

This site has been described as a;
Tower House.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 195247)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TF21096398

PastScape number; 352844

Books

Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p68
Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p323
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p148
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p265 [possible]
Marquis Curzon and Tipping, H.A., 1929, Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire (London) p182, plate 26
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p446
Weir, 1820, History and Descriptive Sketches of Horncastle (London) p97-8
Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p173

Journal Articles

Hurst, D. Gillian, 1970, 'Medieval Britain in 1969. II, Post-Conquest' Medieval Archaeology Vol14 p191

Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)

Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p300

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

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*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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Tower on the Moor

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TF21096398

Sources of information, references and further reading