Stone face found during Kyloe Tower restoration

Posted by The Journal on Feb 24, 10 11:49 AM in News

A face from the past has emerged during restoration work on a 15th Century tower house in Northumberland.

Natural England and English Heritage have combined on the project to consolidate Kyloe Tower, near Fenwick in Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Tom Gledhill and Frances Fewster of Natural England North East

Tom Gledhill and Frances Fewster of Natural England North East

The tower has a vaulted ground floor and a spiral staircase, and scaffolding was put into place so that work could be carried out on the ruined upper reaches.

Only then was it realised that a stone which jutted out bore the faded image of a woman's face, looking out towards Lindisfarne. Now a lead "hat" has been fitted to protect the face.

"We hope that it will still be looking out in another 500 years' time," said Tom Gledhill, Natural England's historic environment specialist.

The face (pictured below) is believed to have been one of several on corbel stones which would have supported a gallery, from which the views could have been enjoyed.

The tower at East Kyloe Farm is thought to have been part of a now vanished medieval settlement and was owned by the Grey family for at least 200 years.

Face at Kyloe Tower, near Fenwick in Berwick-upon-Tweed "What a glorious sight that must have been," said Tom.

The listed tower, which is also a scheduled ancient monument, is on English Heritage's at risk register.

The project has been carried out thanks to a grant under Natural England's Higher Level Stewardship scheme, which allows for the preservation of historic structures on farms. And Natural England has appointed Frances Fewster as a new adviser to help the region's farmers safeguard the historic environment on their land.

"These features add considerably to the landscape character of the countryside and are a vital part of the region's rural historic environment," said Tom. "They tell the story of why the landscape is as it is." Frances is a graduate of Newcastle University's traditional construction course and has an MA in urban conservation.

She has previously worked for Alnwick Council and Northumberland County Council as their listed buildings officer. She has worked on a wide range of historic conservation projects, including the restoration of Lord Armstrong's iron bridge at Cragside. Building restorations under agri-environment schemes are not confined to traditional farm buildings.

Other buildings of historic significance can be considered, for example industrial or military buildings, such as mining structures and Second World War pillboxes.

We'd like to hear from you.
Send your stories, pics and videos to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk