 
Newcastle town wall, Gunner Tower
Newcastle town wall, Gunner Tower
HER Number
              1523
          District
              Newcastle
          Site Name
              Newcastle town wall, Gunner Tower
          Place
              Newcastle
          Map Sheet
              NZ26SW
          Class
              Defence
          Site Type: Broad
              Town Defences
          Site Type: Specific
              Town Wall
          General Period
              MEDIEVAL
          Specific Period
              Medieval 1066 to 1540
          Form of Evidence
              Extant Building
          Description
              The site of this semi-circular tower, of the usual pattern, still survives rather oddly on the south side of Pink Lane, the intra-mural road. It was not sited at the point where the wall changed direction, perhaps because this would have brought it too close to Pink Tower. In 1821 it was leased to the Company of Slaters and Tylers who converted it into a meeting hall, which is perhaps why it survived the wholesale destruction of the 1840s. After a succession of tenants from c. 1850s the Corporation demolished the tower in 1885. Excavation in 1964 showed that the visible semi-circular wall is a 19th century reconstruction, and that while the founds of the town wall survived the south-west wall of the tower was just damaged fragmentary footings. SCHEDULED ANCIENT MONUMENT AND LISTED GRADE 1
          Easting
              424550
          Northing
              563930
          Grid Reference
              NZ424550563930
    Sources
              << HER 1523 >>  J. Brand, 1789, History of Newcastle, I, 10
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, 1887, The 'Gunner Tower', Pink Lane... 2, II (for 1885-6), p. 22
S. Holmes, 1896, The Town Walls of Newcastle upon Tyne, Archaeologia Aeliana, 2, XVIII, 13
C.H.H. Blair, 1937, The Walls of Newcastle...illustrated...by George Bouchier Richardson, Archaeologia Aeliana, 4, XIV, pl. xiv.1
T. Wake, 1929, Thomas Bewick: A Centenary Appreciation, Archaeologia Aeliana, 4, VI, 119
B. Harbottle, 1967, An Excavation at the Gunner Tower, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1964, Archaeologia Aeliana, 4, XLV, 123-137
          Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, 1887, The 'Gunner Tower', Pink Lane... 2, II (for 1885-6), p. 22
S. Holmes, 1896, The Town Walls of Newcastle upon Tyne, Archaeologia Aeliana, 2, XVIII, 13
C.H.H. Blair, 1937, The Walls of Newcastle...illustrated...by George Bouchier Richardson, Archaeologia Aeliana, 4, XIV, pl. xiv.1
T. Wake, 1929, Thomas Bewick: A Centenary Appreciation, Archaeologia Aeliana, 4, VI, 119
B. Harbottle, 1967, An Excavation at the Gunner Tower, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1964, Archaeologia Aeliana, 4, XLV, 123-137