Chesterton Tower

Chesterton Tower is a Grade I listed[1] medieval tower located in Chapel Street, Chesterton, Cambridge. The two-storey 14th-century tower is the former residence of Italian procurators of the abbot of Vercelli in Italy. It stands in the former vicarage garden of nearby St Andrew's Church, Chesterton. Built from field stones, clunch, brick and ashlar quoins, the tower is, unusually, not a fragment but a complete dwelling with vaulted ceilings, a spiral staircase and garderobe. The lower storey is vaulted in two bays with chamfered ribs and carved bosses. A restoration was completed in 1949.[2]

Chesterton Tower
Chesterton Tower
LocationChesterton, Cambridge
Coordinates52°13′01″N 0°08′24″E
AreaCambridgeshire, England
Built14th Century
Built forHenry III of England
Listed Building – Grade I
Designated26-Apr-1950
Reference no.1331829
Location of Chesterton Tower

In 1217 as an expression of gratitude for his assistance in preventing civil war, the Chesterton church was given by Henry III to the Papal Legate Cardinal Guala. He subsequently bestowed the buildings upon the abbey at Vercelli. A procurator, probably a canon of the abbey, resided at the tower and represented the foreign ownership. It is thought that the vicarage was probably a separate building.[3]

In 1440 Henry VI gave these buildings to King's Hall, Cambridge[4] which later became Henry VIII’s Trinity College.

The tower is an uncommon survivor of a mid-14th-century dwelling.

References
  1. Historic England. "Chesterton Tower (1331829)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  2. Alison Taylor, Cambridge The Hidden History p.123
  3. Royal Commission Survey of Cambridge 1959
  4. Cambridgeshire, Second edition (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) N Pevsner
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