Gibraltar Tower
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Location
| Street: | Tower Street |
| Town: | Heathfield |
| Parish: | Heathfield & Waldron |
| Council: | Wealden District Council |
| County: | East Sussex |
| Postcode: | TN21 |
| Location on Google Map | |
| Object setting: | Garden |
| Access is: | Private |
| Location note: | In the grounds of Heathfield Park |
| In the AZ book: | East Sussex |
| Page: | 76 |
| Grid reference: | E1 |
| The A-Z books used are A-Z East Sussex and A-Z West Sussex (Editions 1A 2005). Geographers' A-Z Map Company Ltd. Sevenoaks. | |
| OS Reference: | TQ588214 |
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Makers
| Name : | John Crunden |
| Role: | Designer |
| Name : | Frances Newbury |
| Role: | Builder |
| Name : | Humphrey Repton |
| Role: | Landscape Architect |
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General Information
| Commissioned by: | Frances Newbury |
| Construction period: | 1792 |
| Installation date: | 1792 |
| Work is: | Extant |
| Owner custodian: | Owners of Heathfield Park |
| Object listing: | Grade II*: particularly important and of more than special interest |
| Building listing: | II* |
| Description: | Ornamental Ashlar, castellated tower of 3 storeys. The ground floor is octagonal and has 8 coved and pointed recesses. The upper portions of the tower are round. The first floor has 4 pointed windows and 4 round recesses containing quatrefoil ornamentation. The top storey has 4 round windows. The interior comprises a circular staircase and 3 rooms originally decorated with views of Gibraltar that have been removed. |
| Inscription: | CALPES DEFENSORI |
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Classification
| Categories: | Commemorative, Architectural, Military |
| Object type1: | Building |
| Object subtype1: | Tower |
| Subject type1: | Non-figurative |
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Object Parts
| Part 1: | Tower |
| Material: | Stone |
| Height (cm): | 1677 |
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Object Condition
| Overall condition: | Poor |
| Risk assessment: | At risk |
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History
| History: | The Tower was built by Francis Newbury who also built the Jack Cade memorial in Cade Street. The tower was built as a monument to Brigadier General George Augustus Eliott (25 December 1917 - 6 July 1790) who commanded the Gibraltar Garrison against the siege by France and Spain between 1779 and 1783. He was later created created Lord Heathfield, Baron Heathfield of Gibraltar on 6 July 1787. He died in July 1790 at Schloss Kalkofen, Aachen, Germany of a stroke. Initially buried in the grounds of the Schloss, his body was disinterred and reburied at Heathfield, East Sussex and later disinterred again and reburied at St Andrew's Church, Buckland Monachorum, Devon in the church associated with his wife's (Anne Pollexfen Drake [1726-1772]) Drake ancestry. His son, Francis Augustus Eliott (31 December 1750 - 26 January 1813), became the 2nd and last Baron Heathfield. The house was originally named Bayley Park but was renamed Heathfield Park by Newbury when he bought the house following the death of Baron Heathfield. The metal letters of the inscription above the door of the tower are said to be made from the guns of the Spanish floating batteries, the inscription translates as 'To the defender of Gibraltar'. |
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References
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Photographs
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