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Monument details

HER Number:TR 15 NW 151
Type of record:Listed Building
Name:Remains of C14th tower, 16 Pound Lane, Canterbury

Summary

Remains of tower Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1300 to 1399


Grid Reference:TR 1475 5823
Map Sheet:TR15NW
Parish:CANTERBURY, CANTERBURY, KENT

Monument Types

  • TOWER (Medieval - 1300 AD to 1399 AD)
Protected Status:Listed Building (II) 1260374: Remains of C14th tower, Pound Lane, Canterbury.; Scheduled Monument KENT 23

Full description

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[TR 14755823] Tower [NR] (Remains of) [NAT]. (1) Built by Archbishop Sudbury c1381. (2) Complete; meeting place of Canterbury Society. (3) 16 Pound Lane. Grade II. A 14thc tower of the City Wall, greatly restored. (4) The relationship between the Romano-British and the medieval city walls were examined in conjunction with the foundations of one of the late 14thc semi-circular towers during a small excavation inside No 16 Pound Lane (see plan). (5) Additional bibliography. (6) Tower No 19. Semicircular. Preserved. One of six medieval towers between North Gate [TR 15 NE 160] and West Gate [TR 15 NW 155]. (7)

Description from record TR 15 NW 922:
The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1. 944 POUND LANE
No 16 TR 1458 SE 2/99 3.12.49.
II
2. A C14 tower of the City Walls, greatly restored. Semi-circular shaped, 3 storeys flint faced with stone quoins. Stone coping. 2 modern casements have been inserted. Blocked slit windows, Pointed doorcase with wooden door.
Listing NGR: TR1475558233

The Canterbury UAD states that;
A watching brief was undertaken at 16 Pound Lane, a tower on the city wall, in January 1976 prior to the concreting in of some floors.

The area beneath the 19th timber floor revealed the top of the Medieval city wall outside the property to the west, and the Roman city wall inside it. Two very small trenches were dug between the city wall and the tower and showed clearly the ground level associated with the building of the tower and the re-facing and widening of the city wall. Above this was a layer of silt, thought to be deposited by flooding and resulting from a rising sea-level.

The excavations at the tower of 16, Pound Lane revealed a battered plinth of fine ashlar bloacks of Kentish ragstone, carrying on down to a great depth and buried in later silt. The plinths allow the tower, which was semi-circular shaped to extend out into the city ditch, without risk of undermining. The upper part of the tower wall proved to be 1.3m thick, made of chalk block and flint and filled with a core of strongly mortared chalk and flint. Below the modern floor there was an off set on the inside of the foundations, making them nearly 2m wide to prevent sapping by an enemy. No dating evidence was found at the level of the Medieval ground surface so no clear archaeological date was possible for the construction of the tower and the widenening of the city wall though the tower is thought, on architectural style, to date from the late 14th century. This suggests that the works date between c. 1380-1390 when extensive repairs and rebuilding of the city's defences were undertaken.

Only a small section of the Romano-British city wall, on the inside of the tower where it had not been re-faced, was examined; it was made of the characteristic courses of large flints found elsewhere along the circuit of the wall. A single Romano-British tile was found in the face of the wall and, lower down, an offset was visible; in the post-Roman period, the face of the wall had been buried by silt and later the wall of the Medieval tower was straight-jointed against it. The base of the Romano-British city wall was not examined as it probably extended several metres down. (8-11)


<1> OS 1:2500 (OS Card Reference). SKE48196.

<2> Arch J 86 1930 243 270-8 (OS Card Reference). SKE36729.

<3> F1 FGA 27-JAN-65 (OS Card Reference). SKE42991.

<4> DOE (HHR) City of Canterbury Kent Sept 1973 204 (OS Card Reference). SKE40036.

<5> Arch Cant 92 1976 241-4 (T Tatton-Brown) (OS Card Reference). SKE36096.

<6> Hist Builds Survey Cant City Council/RCHME 57033 6 of 6 (OS Card Reference). SKE43875.

<7> Arch of Cant 2 1982 23 73 plan (SS Frere S Stow and P Bennett) (OS Card Reference). SKE36826.

<8> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<9> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.

<10> Tatton-Brown, T., 1977, 16 Pound Lane, Canterbury (Serial). SKE30774.

<11> Andrews, G., 1985, The Archaeology of Canterbury: An Assessment (Unpublished document). SKE30429.

Sources and further reading

Cross-ref. Source description
<1>OS Card Reference: OS 1:2500.
<2>OS Card Reference: Arch J 86 1930 243 270-8.
<3>OS Card Reference: F1 FGA 27-JAN-65.
<4>OS Card Reference: DOE (HHR) City of Canterbury Kent Sept 1973 204.
<5>OS Card Reference: Arch Cant 92 1976 241-4 (T Tatton-Brown).
<6>OS Card Reference: Hist Builds Survey Cant City Council/RCHME 57033 6 of 6.
<7>OS Card Reference: Arch of Cant 2 1982 23 73 plan (SS Frere S Stow and P Bennett).
<8>XYMap: English Heritage. List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. [Mapped feature: #757 Tower, ]
<9>Scheduling record: English Heritage. Register of Scheduled Monuments.
<10>Serial: Tatton-Brown, T.. 1977. 16 Pound Lane, Canterbury.
<11>Unpublished document: Andrews, G.. 1985. The Archaeology of Canterbury: An Assessment.

Related records

TR 15 NW 1048Part of: 18 AND 19 POUND LANE (Listed Building)
TR 15 NW 116Part of: Canterbury city walls (Monument)