Hussey Tower

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Benyington Tower

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

The standing and buried remains of a medieval brick fortified house. The house is belived to have been built in the mid to late C15 for Richard Bennington. The tower was later owned by Lord Hussey, and following his death, in 1537, the estate was granted to the Corporation of Boston. A gatehouse was demolished in 1565, and repairs were made to the remainder of the buildings, which were then rented by Joseph Whiting. In the early C18 further buildings were dismantled including the domestic range adjoining the tower, and in 1728 the lead and timber were removed from the tower. The tower is rectangular with an octagonal stair turret projecting from the north east corner. It measures 9m by 8m, with walls 1m in width, and stands three storeys high with a portion of the crenellated parapet. The tower is mainly of red brick with stone dressings. At ground floor level is a formerly rib-vaulted chamber which would have provided a storage area and is now entered by the doorway in the east wall. The tower was formerly part of a larger building as shown by the bonding and roof scars of a two storey range on the exterior of the east wall of the tower. The range, forming part of the domestic accommodation, was slightly narrower than the tower with communicating doorways between the range and the tower at ground and first floor levels. The former range, running east from the tower, will survive as buried remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 486443)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TF33084363

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 353942
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 10029 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Web site links
  • http://www.lincsheritage.org/promotion/historic_sites/site.php?key=hussey
    http://www.lincsheritage.org/promotion/historic_sites/hussey_tower/threats.php
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p51
    Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p223
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p143
    Pevsner, Nikolaus and John Harris; revised by Nicholas Antram, 1989, Buildings of England: Lincolnshire (Harmondsworth) p169
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p265 [possible]
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p434
• Journal Articles
  • Smith, T.P., 1979, ‘Hussey Tower, Boston: a late medieval tower-house of brick’, Lincolnshire History and Archaeology Vol14 p31-7
    Thompson, A.H., 1932, Archaeological Journal Vol89 p370
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Anderson and Glenn, 2005, Feasibility Study for Re-roofing Hussey Tower, Boston. (unpublished but detailed report)
    English Heritage, 1999, Revised scheduling document 31625. MPP 23