Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The site of a round tower is noted on early late Medieval and early post medieval mapping on the south eastern side of 'Paradise Pent' in Dovers historic Pier District. It is likely that this is one of the original two towers which were constructed upon Clerks Pier in the later Medieval period. (location accurate to the nearest 50m based on available information).

Monument Types

• TOWER (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1495 AD? to 1788 AD?)

Full description

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The site of a round tower is noted on early post medieval mapping on the south eastern side of 'Paradise Pent' in Dover’s historic Pier District. Sources note that this was originally one of two towers constructed in the late 15th- early 16th century, possibly by John Clerk who was master of the Mason Dieu during this period. It has been suggested that the two towers were not constructed at the same time. Historic mapping shows that the first tower was built in 1495, furthermore, when John Clarke was appointed warden of the Wyke in 1518, he employed stone masons to construct a pier and the second tower between March and September of that year. Therefore, the pier and the inner tower and a possible earlier outer tower were contemporary, and the outer tower was built during Clerk’s works on the harbour (1).

William Mildert, writing in 1828, states that pier and towers built by Clerk 'intended to defend the ships from the violence of the south-west winds’ and that Clerk's pier made the harbour "so pleasant as ever after that corner of the Bay hath been called, and is at this day, Little Paradise". (2) One of these towers may have been largely destroyed by the sea in 1530 but according to Batcheller the foundations of the other (perhaps the earlier of the two) survived at 'the entrance to Round Tower Street near the National School'. Barrington Jones asserts that the foundations of both towers had been discovered. A well-known picture, formerly at Windsor Castle and now at Hampton Court, representing the embarkation of Henry VIII for the " Field of the Cloth of Gold " in 1520, clearly shows Clerk's two forts in the foreground. (3-4)

William Eldred's map of this part of Dover (sheets 7/8), dating to 1641, depicts in good detail, a tower and associated pier, protruding into the south-eastern side of 'Paradise Pent' and abutting the back of the properties which front onto 'Rounde Tower Lane'. (5) Another plan also (possibly) attributed to William Eldred, dating to 1631, shows a structure in this location though its form here is less clear. (6)

Another early and detailed cartographic source which depicts this tower is that produced by Digges in 1595. This plan shows the harbour in precise detail and all of the important features are numbered and labelled. This round tower is apparent on this mapping, it is miss labelled in the key as ‘Thompsons Towere’ but is in the same approximate position as that displayed on the " Field of the Cloth of Gold " and the tower and pier on Eldred’s map. The detail of the tower on this map is not as clear as that depicted by Eldred but it is on the south-eastern side of Paradise Pent and may therefore allow us to date this tower to at least the end of the 16th century. (7)

Further historic maps depicting this tower include that by Thomas Miles dating to 1580 (8) Symonds' dating to 1583-84 (9) Thomas Digges dating to 1581 (10) and 1588 (11)

The pent was in-filled in the later post medieval period, Mildert writes that 'Paradise Pent was for many years a waste useless and unhealthy swamp' which was in 1788 infilled. He also notes that 'In the year 1789, three houses were re-built in this street […] on part of the spot where the tower formerly stood' suggesting that the tower had been demolished by this point. (2) It is likely that the tower was lost during the infilling of the pent. Two roads which survived into 19th century bare the name 'Round Tower' (Round Tower Lane and Round Tower Road), these provide a later link to the lost tower.

The possible location of this tower is situated within the footprint of the Dover Western Docks Revival Scheme, discussion of this possible monument in relation to the scheme. (12)

<1> Martin Biddle and John Summerson, 1982, History of the King's Works. Volume 4 part 2. Dover Harbour, pp. 730 (Monograph). SKE32135.

<2> William Van Mildert, 1828, A Short Historical sketch of the Town of Dover and its Neighbourhood. (Monograph). SKE32004.

<3> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1991, The New Dover Sewers Scheme - archaeological implications (Unpublished document). SKE6602.

<4> Alec Macdonald, 1937, Archaeologia Cantiana: Plans of Dover Harbour in the Sixteenth Century Vol. 49 (Article in serial). SKE31789.

<5> William Eldred, 1641, The Platt of Dover Castle Towne and Harbor (Map). SKE31804.

<6> William Eldred (?), 1631, Plan of lands belonging to the Priory and now to Master Buffkyn (Map). SKE31988.

<7> Thomas Digges, 1595, The state of Dover Haven with the New workes (Map). SKE31987.

<8> Thomas Miles, 1580, Proposal for Dover Harbour (Map). SKE31983.

<9> John Symonds, 1583-1584, Dover Harbour (Map). SKE32347.

<10> Thomas Digges, 1581, The State of Dover Haven (Map). SKE31984.

<11> Thomas Digges, 1588, Plan of Work at Dover Harbour (Map). SKE31986.

<12> Maritime Archaeology, 2008, Dover Terminal 2 EIA: Historic Environment Baseline Report (Unpublished document). SKE31717.

Sources and further reading

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