Longthorpe Tower

A fourteenth-century tower celebrated for one of northern Europe’s most complete and remarkable sets of medieval domestic wall paintings.

The tower was added to a medieval manor house and its painted chamber is the main reason to visit. The wall paintings contain religious, moral and everyday imagery, offering an exceptionally rich glimpse of fourteenth-century beliefs and domestic life. Because the decoration survives in the room for which it was made, the experience feels more immediate than seeing detached objects in a museum. Longthorpe Tower rewards a careful visit: look closely at the figures, then consider the building’s place in the wider medieval landscape west of Peterborough.