New Buildings, Tower Foundations

February 1935

CITY TOWER DISCOVERED

At the Hales Street entrance from New Buildings the foundations of a City Tower was discovered at a depth of about 12 feet. This tower was actually in the river bed at a short distance from the flood gates. As I expected, the city wall was also discovered at this point, but the tower had not been known. On searching the Leet book, however, I found it mentioned in 1457 as Priory Tower.

The city wall in its original form was less than 3 miles in circumference, but in 1462 to 1480 it was enlarged, each important dwelling being surrounded, viz; The White Friars, The Grey Friars, St. John's Church, and Benedictine Monastery. It is the Benedictine Monastery of which I want to speak. The wall was built round its northern borders about 1403, during the mayorship of John Smythier. From Cook Street Gate it came to the corner of the new part of the Fire Station (please note the Priory Tower or Swanswell Tower of to-day was not built until the other tower was pulled down) then running in front of the Station to the river where the Priory Tower then stood. From there the wall ran to the east, and quite a large portion is still under Messrs. Newark's, the timber merchants while another part is still in the ground running to the south up New Buildings. This part may have been a lean-to wall staying the tower, or otherwise made for holding back some of the water of Priory Pool.

In 1480, Prior Deram made a number of complaints to the City; in fact, he seems to have made them wholesale. In 1479, during the mayorship of William Shore, he said that he had "lodged a bill of complaints, and altho' numerous, many more could be found." His complaints were, that the Trinity and Corpus Christi Guilds had kept back rents, etc., which were due to the Prior and Convent. That the Tripartite - an agreement betwixt the Prior, Queen Isabelle, and the Mayor, regarding Whitmore Park, had been broken. The answer was that it had not been so, and that the people had always enjoyed the right to get broom, ferns, firs, turfs, gravel, sand, etc, at any time they required them. Other complaints were regarding the number of cattle turned onto the common of Hasilwood, the breaking down of the Prior's gates, hedges, and woods, also, the throwing of dung and filth into the river, thus utterly stopping the Prior's mill and the flood gates, whilst the smell was such that the brethren of the Monastery were hurt thereby. Also between Gosford Gate and Harnall, the people stopped up the bridges, took horses that ate up the grass, broke down the hedges, trampled the corn, and hunted and hawked in his warrens.

More of the complaints and about the Tower in next month's issue.

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