The Anglian Tower is the lower portion of an

Early Medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

tower on the city walls of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

. It is located on the south-west (interior) face of the City walls, currently in the grounds of York City Library and accessible on foot both from there and the

Museum Gardens The York Museum Gardens are botanic gardens in the centre of York, England, beside the River Ouse. They cover an area of of the former grounds of St Mary's Abbey, and were created in the 1830s by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society along with ...

Discovery

The Anglian tower was first discovered by workmen making a tunnel from

St Leonard's Place St Leonard's Place is a street in the city centre of York, in England. History The site street lay mostly within the walls of Roman Eboracum, and two Anglo-Saxon carved stones and a large coin hoard have been discovered in excavations in the ...

to Mint Yard in 1839. It was probably located again in 1934 by the City Engineer. Limited excavation was undertaken in 1969, above the modern street level and confined between the Medieval town wall and the stable, only an area by being exposed. The location of the tower places it between the conjectural locations of two

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

interval towers on the south-west side of the Roman fortress.

Function

There is no secular parallel for this tower in Britain, nor in Europe. It could not be directly dated, and the most likely dates for its construction are the mid-7th century or mid-9th century. The function of the tower is also problematic. Two doorways at the base were designed to allow a sentry to walk through behind the stump of the Roman fortress wall, and there is no evidence to suggest that the tower chamber had any function other than to allow free access along the walls. The form and function of the upper part of the tower cannot be known. It may have served as a

watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

, a platform for

archers Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

, but there is no surviving evidence to substantiate any of these. The position of the tower might imply the existence of others.English Heritage Register of parks and gardens of special historic interest in England, North Yorkshire, (May 1987) Part 32

Visible remains

It is a small square tower, built of stone with arched doorways and tunnel-vaulted. The remains stand to a height of over three metres, abutting up against the later

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

City Wall. A descriptive plaque on the Tower stated: :This building is the lower storey of a tower built into a breach in the 4th-century Roman fortress wall perhaps in the reign of King

Edwin The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures. People * Edwin of Northumbria (die ...

(616 - 632 AD). It was hidden under the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

and later ramparts and rediscovered in 1839. A second plaque commemorated the death of archaeologist

Jeffrey Radley Jeffrey Radley (13 October 1935 – 22 July 1970) was a British archaeologist and poet. Career Radley was an archaeologist, particularly interested in Prehistoric archaeology. He was also a poet, having a collection of poems published posthu ...

in 1970: :This plaque is erected to the memory of Jeffrey Radley M.A. F.S.A. who carried out the excavation of the tower and was tragically killed in a subsequent accident at the site on July 22nd 1970.

References

Bibliography

*Barbara Wilson and Frances Mee, ''The City Walls and Castles of York: The Pictorial Evidence'', York Archaeological Trust, 2005. {{ISBN, 978-1-874454-36-6. *Buckland, P. C. 1984. 'The 'Anglian Tower' and the use of Jurassic limestone in York' in Addyman, P. V. & Black, V. E. (eds), ''Archaeological papers from York presented to M W Barley'', York: York Archaeological Trust. pp. 51–57.

External links