Radcliffe Tower built approx 1403 The Tower was built by James de Radcliffe who, in 1403, ordered the construction of the Tower as part of an ambitious rebuilding of his manor house. Little is known about the manor house prior to that date, although excavations in 1979-80 by the Bury Archeological Group suggest that it stood on the site of the later buildings. Although the surviving Tower is now free-standing, when it was built it stood next to the timber framed great hall which projected to the west. The Tower had fallen into disuse and been converted to a farm building by 1700. The present gabled roof shape is a result of and dates from that agricultural use.