Rochford Tower

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Kyme Tower; Richmond Tower; Skirbeck

In the civil parish of Fishtoft. 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 at Rochford Tower. The house is believed to have been built in late C15 to early C16. The building formerly included a two storey range adjoining the north side of the tower. This range was dismantled in 1807 when the present house was built to the north of the tower. The tower is rectangular in plan, measuring 9m by 8m, and stands four storeys high, with a crenellated parapet and turrets at the angles of the tower. The structure is mainly of red brick with stone window dressings. At ground floor level there is a brick vaulted chamber, or undercroft. The tower was formerly part of a larger building, shown by the bonding scars of a two storey range on the exterior of the northern wall of the tower.
A late 15th to early 16th century brick structure, with stone windows, embattled parapet and corner stairway, that is now derelict. There are considerable foundations in the enclosure adjacent to the tower. The tower takes its name from the Rochford family mentioned as early as 1274. Sir Ralph Rochford was living here in 1390. The present tower was probably built about 1504, when the property was granted to the Abbot of Westminster. An adjoining house of that period was taken down in 1807. From about 1600 until 1816, the property was owned by the Kyme family and became known as Kyme Tower. It is published as such on the Ordnance Survey 1 inch map of 1824. It is scheduled as Rochford Tower. Cropmarks both rectangular and circular are visible on an aerial photograph at TF 350446 and possibly indicate associated structures. A red-brick tower resembling Hussey Tower at Boston (PRN 10029): both are humbler progeny of Tattershall Castle (PRN 43561), in the tower-house tradition. The date is about 1450-60. It has an embattled parapet, turrets corbelled out at the angles and the octagonal stair at the south-east angle communicates with three floors. Some windows are of stone, and two have a little tracery. There is a brick-vaulted ground-floor room or basement. In the first-floor room there are traces of wall paintings, now very weathered showing St Anne teaching the Virgin, the Annunciation, St Michael, St Anthony, and a coat of arms supported by angels. (Lincolnshire HER)
D.J.C. King rejected this as never forming part of a defensible structure.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 191948)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TF35074451

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 353869
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 10035 '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/lincs/forts/index.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p58
    Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p224
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p144
    Pevsner, Nikolaus and John Harris; revised by Nicholas Antram, 1989, Buildings of England: Lincolnshire (Harmondsworth) p278
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p265 [reject]
    Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1964, Buildings of England: Lincolnshire (Harmondsworth) p265
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol1 p434 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland01mack#page/n497/mode/1up
    Pishey Thompson, 1856, The History and Antiquities of Boston: And the Hundreds of Skirbeck (Richard Kay Publications 1997 reprint) p318-22
• Journal Articles
  • Trollope, E., 1870, Lincolnshire Architectural and Archaeological Society Reports and Papers Vol10 p207
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • English Heritage. 1999. Revised scheduling document 31626. MPP 23