Layer Marney Tower

En un regard

Le château en bref

Layer Marney Tower rises in the countryside between Colchester and Maldon, above the Blackwater estuary. It is known for its Tudor gatehouse, some 24 m high and often described as the tallest in England for that period, a true manifesto of its builder's power. The ensemble is a fragment of a palace that was never completed: begun around 1520 by Henry, 1st Lord Marney, Keeper of the Privy Seal to Henry VIII, the work stopped with his death in 1523 and then that of his son in 1525. What survives is the gatehouse, a small west wing, a long gallery to the south and a barn. The red brick with diaper patterning and the terracotta ornaments, in the spirit of the Italian Renaissance, make it a landmark of early 16th-century English architecture. Privately owned, the site opens to the public on certain days in the summer season and serves as a venue for weddings, events and accommodation.