Morgan's Mount is a structure extending from the north side of the city walls of Chester, in Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a designated Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

It was constructed in 1645 during the siege of Chester in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

as an observation platform and gun emplacement. After the

Battle of Rowton Heath The Battle of Rowton Heath, also known as the Battle of Rowton Moor, occurred on 24 September 1645 during the English Civil War. Fought by the Parliamentarians, commanded by Sydnam Poyntz, and the Royalists under the personal command of King ...

in September of that year, a gun on the Mount was destroyed by

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

forces. It was originally named the Raised Square Platform, and is said to have been named later after the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

Captain William Morgan, or his son, Edward.

Architecture

The Mount is constructed in red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

coursed

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

, and is rectangular in shape. It contains a chamber at the level of the walkway, with barred openings to the west and the north. Two flights of five steps lead up to the roof, which has a stone

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

surmounted by an iron railing. One of the steps has a reused Victorian gravestone. At the northeast corner of the roof is an L-shaped stone bench. Providing good views of the welsh hills beyond. Mm2

Sculpture

At the base of the tower is a life size sculpture representing the civil war cannon destroyed.

References

Citations Sources * {{Chester city walls Grade I listed buildings in Chester

History

Architecture

Sculpture

See also

References