Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The plinth of a Medieval wall tower was found SW of the London Gate and south of the angle in the city wall. Only half of its plan could be recovered because of tree-roots, but it seemed to be horse shoe shaped and similar in construction to towers 6 and 7 with a massively-built battered base and with a chalk and flint rubble core which was faced at the front with ashlar.

Monument Types

• TOWER (Medieval - 1301 AD? to 1400 AD?)

Full description

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In May 1961 Frank Jenkins undertook excavations in the Westgate Gardens prior to the construction of Rheims Way road. The plinth of a Medieval wall tower was found 21.34m SW of the London Gate and just under 1.22m south of the angle in the city wall. Only half of its plan could be recovered because of tree-roots, but it seemed to be horse shoe shaped and similar in construction to towers 6 and 7 with a massively-built battered base c 4-4.3m wide and with a chalk and flint rubble core which was faced at the front with ashlar. The north side of the base overlapped the robber-trench of the city wall, the inner edge of which was traced as far as the angle in the wall.

Frere, SS, Stow, S, and Bennett, P, 1982, Excavations on the Roman and Medieval Defences of Canterbury. (Monograph). SKE28530.

Andrews, G., 1985, The Archaeology of Canterbury: An Assessment (Unpublished document). SKE30429.

Sources and further reading