History and architecture
Rising high above the lower buildings adjacent to them, in the quadrangle of the Union Theological Seminary, the Brown Memorial Tower in the southeast corner and the James Tower set in the middle of the Claremont Avenue side are among the finest examples of the English Perpendicular Gothic style of architecture in New York.
There is a sophisticated restraint revealed in their design coupled with a delicate precision in the execution of the details that seems to impart a special quality to the masonry. These striking towers are expressions in masonry of the intent of the designer and manifest the art and skill of the master stone carvers who produced them.
At the base of these square towers, buttresses project boldly from the corners, stepping inward as they rise to the top and terminating in pinnacles with delicate finials. Parapets at the roof line are panelled and ornately decorated. In the upper half of the Brown Memorial Tower, the unusually tall windows with their thin mullions and fine shafts of stone end as handsome, intricate tracery.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.