Description

79/0/10022
22-NOV-04

LEISTON
SIZEWELL GAP
The Watch-house

II

Coastguard watch-house. c.1823. Brick with slate roof and brick stack. Single storey open plan building with a second storey added to the eastern end to create a watch-tower. The eastern facade retains a triangular bay window supported on a dragon beam at first floor level over a planked double door at ground floor which provided access for the rocket-cart. A planked door at ground floor level provides access on the southern facade and a square window providing additional light to the watch-tower is located at first floor level. On the western elevation the original double door has been infilled in brick. To the northern elevation a small musket gun port, positioned opposite the door on the southern elevation, has been infilled. A small coal store has been constructed to the east of this.
Internally the ground floor has been subdivided to the western end by the construction of a modern stud wall. The original wooden runners for the rocket-cart survive in the eastern part of the building. A staircase with a removal section below a small landing is located in the south eastern corner and provides access to the first floor level. A planked wooden cupboard is located in the north eastern corner.
At first floor level the stairwell is surrounded by a rail with hexagonal knobs and can be closed by means of a trap door. The walls are partly lined with tongue-and-groove panelling. An original fireplace with a mantle shelf with two brackets to allow the fixing of a telescope is located on the northern wall. A musket rack is located on the west wall which is boarded to the ceiling. To the south of the musket rack is a small peep hole which can be open or closed via a sliding wooden panel.
The watch-house was built in the 1820s when the preventative waterguard was consolidated and the coastguard formed. There is a record of a lease for the watch-house at Leiston dated 1823 and the building is specifically referred to in the 1840 tithe records. The watch-house remained in use until the 1980s when it came into the ownership of Suffolk Coastal District Council
The watch-house at Leiston is a particularly fine example of a coastguard watch-house remaining little altered and retaining a significant number of its original fixtures and fittings.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26670725

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

• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)