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Latitude: 52.2073 / 52°12'26"N
Longitude: 1.6217 / 1°37'18"E
OS Eastings: 647542
OS Northings: 262749
OS Grid: TM475627
Mapcode National: GBR YZ2.NT7
Mapcode Global: VHM7R.2S57
Plus Code: 9F436J4C+WM
Entry Name: The Watch-House
Listing Date: 22 November 2004
Grade: II
Source: Historic England
Source ID: 1391360
English Heritage Legacy ID: 491882
ID on this website: 101391360
Location: Sizewell, East Suffolk, IP16
County: Suffolk
District: East Suffolk
Civil Parish: Leiston
Traditional County: Suffolk
Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Suffolk
Church of England Parish: Leiston St Margaret
Church of England Diocese: St.Edmundsbury and Ipswich
Tagged with: Architectural structure
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.
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