Description

PLYMOUTH

SX4953 MOUNT BATTEN POINT, Plymstock
740-1/68/603 Mount Batten Tower
01/05/75

GV II*

Coastal defence tower, set at the top of a cliff and quarried
face. 1660s on the site of an earlier battery. Plymouth
limestone rubble with some granite dressings; flat lead roof
behind an embattled parapet with string course.
PLAN: round plan, originally with basement store and heated
room on each floor above, the upper floor under a domed stone
vault; stone staircase within the thickness of the wall, the
principal upper room doorway approached direct from the
entrance doorway; steps up to parapet on the left and steps
down to next room entrance on the right. There is a small
store at the top of the stairs and a latrine set on the
battlements.
EXTERIOR: pointed-arched roll-moulded granite doorway mid-way
up the wall; small granite stair windows irregularly disposed;
4-centred arched doorway to parapet store.
INTERIOR: retains many original features including 4-centred
arched granite doorway and 2 fireplaces, the lower fireplace
with a timber lintel and the principal fireplace with moulded
jambs and lintel and a triangular motif to the centre.
FITTINGS: 3 C17 cannon on C20 replica carriages set up behind
the battlements.
HISTORY: erected as part of the post Civil War defences of
Plymouth Sound and thought to be named after Captain Batten
who was Governor of Plymouth during the Civil War.
This tower is similar to Cromwell's Tower (1651) on Tresco,
Isles of Scilly.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-:
649).

Listing NGR: SX4864453251

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17554454

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)