Newcastle town wall, West Spital Tower
Newcastle town wall, West Spital Tower
HER Number
1518
District
Newcastle
Site Name
Newcastle town wall, West Spital 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
Demolished Building
Description
Thought to derive its name from the Hospital of the BVM, which stood close by inside the wall. The construction of this stretch of wall, and presumably also the tower, through the grounds of the hospital had begun by 1290. The tower was semi-circular in plan. In 1827 it formed "part of a genteel dwelling-house, and its circular walls may still be seen in a good state of preservation". Demolished sometime between 1844 and 1848, its site is beneath the eastern half of the Central Station.
Easting
424720
Northing
563850
Grid Reference
NZ424720563850
Sources
<< HER 1518 >> J. Brand, 1789, History of Newcastle, I, 9-10
E. Mackenzie, 1827, View of Newcastle, 108
T.M. Richardson, 1880, Memorials of Old Newcastle, pl. xviii
C.H.H. Blair, 1937, The Walls of Newcastle upon Tyne, illustrated by...G.B. Richardson, Archaeologia Aeliana, 4, XIV, 126, pl. xiv.1
S. Holmes, 1896, The Town Walls of Newcastle upon Tyne, Archaeologia Aeliana, 2, XVIII, 12
M.A. Richardson, 1846, Local Historian's Table Book, Historical Division, V, 300
E. Mackenzie, 1827, View of Newcastle, 108
T.M. Richardson, 1880, Memorials of Old Newcastle, pl. xviii
C.H.H. Blair, 1937, The Walls of Newcastle upon Tyne, illustrated by...G.B. Richardson, Archaeologia Aeliana, 4, XIV, 126, pl. xiv.1
S. Holmes, 1896, The Town Walls of Newcastle upon Tyne, Archaeologia Aeliana, 2, XVIII, 12
M.A. Richardson, 1846, Local Historian's Table Book, Historical Division, V, 300