Introduction

This substantial tower, just 22 metres south of St Stephen's Gate, would have provided a platform from which to observe the outer approach to the gate and protect it with covering fire. The tower had an upper chamber and may have had a walk behind a parapet at roof level. There were loops at both levels looking away down the outer side of the wall to the north and to the south. [26-12 3D from SW]

The plan of the tower is D shaped and is 6.7 metres across projecting out over the ditch by 2.4 metres. The walls stand now to a height of just over 6 metres though the tower has lost the upper parts of the walls of the upper chamber and any parapet. [1] The lower chamber has a brick vault supported with a single arch parallel with the straight inner wall. Much of the vault is now broken away. There was certainly no internal staircase and the upper chamber was reached from the wall walk with a brick-formed doorway surviving on the north side and the threshold of a door surviving on the south side. The north door has a recess on the straight inner east wall to take the door as it opened inwards from the wall walk. The floor of the upper chamber was higher than the level of the wall walk and there is evidence on the north side of the tower that the steps down to the wall were protected by a high but thin flint-built parapet on both sides.

Part of the wall between the St Stephen's Gate and the tower survives with the bases of three arches on the inner side. Immediately south of the tower is another section of wall with one complete arch of the arcade and the reveal of a second arch though much damaged. The spacing of the arches suggests that there was the same arrangement here as at the Black Tower with a space of about 3 metres of blank wall between the tower and the first of the arches. [26-04 Int Elev]

Much of the wall between St Stephen's Gate and Brazen Doors survived until the late 19th century though houses were rapidly built up against the wall on both sides when first the ditch was filled in and then the gates were demolished in the 1790s.

It was over 220 metres between the gates and there was a second intermediate tower before Brazen Doors. Historic maps suggest that this too was semicircular and was probably just to the south of the present entrance into the bus station.