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Summary

A half-round tower, the first tower on the eastern town wall north of Gods House Tower. In the 1454 terrier it was said to have three defensive loops. Ideas as to the date of this tower have altered much over the last few decades, following excavation work inside the tower. An initial limited excavation took place in the tower in 1975 (SOU 115). This revealed a blocked door in the north-east of the arc. At this stage it was thought that the tower dated to the 13th century, being part of the first stone phase of the town defences. Further excavations in 1986 (SOU 253), 1989 (SOU 395) and 1990 to 1992 (SOU 433) showed that the tower had originally been a free-standing dovecote, built in the late 13th century/early 14th century. Nesting holes for the pigeons were revealed by the work. The dovecote would have stood on the Gods House Hospital property though no reference to it has been found in the Hospital records. Perhaps in the second quarter of the 14th century, the dovecote was partially demolished and rebuilt as a half-round tower. It is unclear whether it was originally a free standing tower or was contemporary with the town walls, which in this area are dated to the mid-to-late 14th century, but before 1373.

Protected Status

• Listed Building (I) 1091982: TOWN WALLS: SECTION OF WALL RUNNING NORTH FROM GOD'S HOUSE ALONG BACK OF THE WALLS TO ROUND TOWER ADJACENT TO NO 15
• Scheduled Monument 1001931: Town wall: remains of East side of town wall South of East Street and North of God’s House Tower

Other Statuses/Codes: None Recorded

Monument Type(s):

• DOVECOTE (Built, Medieval - 1275 AD? to 1325 AD?)
• FLANKING TOWER (built/rebuilt, Medieval - 1325 AD? to 1350 AD?)
• INTERVAL TOWER (built/rebuilt, Medieval - 1325 AD? to 1350 AD?)

Full description

Records for the town defences are currently being enhanced and it is intended that further details will be added to this description at a later date. (SCC HER 4/12/09)
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[16]: Listed Building Description. TOWN WALLS. Section of wall running north from God's House along back of the Walls to Round Tower adjacent to No 15 (formerly listed as section of Town Wall in back of the Walls running south from Raleigh House until it joins the South Gate or God's House). Grade I.
- Remains of mediaeval city walls. Wall of stone rubble incorporating a C13 half drum tower. Scheduled as an ancient monument.
[Derived from English Heritage LBS download dated 19/08/2005. Crown Copyright. Reproduced under the terms of the Open Government Licence.]
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SOU 115 (Excavation at the Back of the Walls Drum Tower in 1975):
[1]: Limited excavation work was carried out on the tower, during repair work on the town walls. The repair work revealed a blocked door in the NE angle of the tower. 19th century deposits were removed, revealing a late 18th century brick floor and brick cess pit. Below the floor was an undated soil layer and a thick deposit of mortar, stone and slate fragments.
[2]: The half-round drum tower belongs to the early 13th century first stone phase of the defences and was originally built as a free-standing round tower. (See below however.)

SOU 253 (Excavation at the Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls in 1986)
SOU 395 (Excavation on Back of the Walls in 1989)
SOU 433 (Investigations at Back of the Walls between 1990 and 1992):
[3]: (This is the main report for a series of investigations along Back of the Walls. SOUs 253, 395 and 433 involved work in and around the dovecote/half round tower, during which the levels inside and to the west of the tower were reduced. [3] only covers the medieval, not the post-medieval, archaeology.)
_ Layers and features predating the dovecote were found (SOU 395 and SOU 433 - see separate record).
_ Demolition deposits of uncertain relation to the dovecote (SOU 433).
_ The dovecote was a circular, stone building, internal diameter 4.6m, with a (blocked) doorway in the north arc of the wall. Recesses in the internal face of the wall were nesting holes. On SOU 395 and SOU 433, evidence for the construction and use of the dovecote was found. The floor levels were investigated. There was a shallow, stone-lined pit with associated stakeholes and a central posthole for supports of a wooden cover. There was a deposit of pigeon manure in the base. A shallow feature was also found. Later deposits containing much rubble and decayed wood and pigeon bones, etc, indicated a period of gradual decay of the dovecote. The limited pottery assemblage found, together with the architectural evidence, might suggest a high-medieval date for the construction of the dovecote, and since it predated the town wall (built before 1373, see below), the dovecote was probably built in the 13th, or at latest early 14th century. The dovecote was located near the western boundary of the God's House Hospital property, and was probably owned and used by the Hospital, though no reference to it has been found in the Hospital records.
_ The dovecote was partially demolished and the half-round tower built in stone on the remains of the east part. The nesting holes were blocked. Deposits from demolition of dovecote and subsequent levelling off and construction of tower were found; these deposits raised the floor level inside the structure and covered over the remains of the western part of the dovecote wall. The tower wall was slightly thinner than the dovecote wall, there being an internal ledge at the junction of the two builds. The new wall incorporated three arrowslots. The combined evidence of the excavations along Back of the Wall, together with the documentary evidence for the construction of certain structures along the wall, suggest that the half round tower and adjacent town wall were built in the mid to late 14th century (before 1373) (see page 21 for discussion).
(For SOU 253, see also [4][5][6]. For SOU 395, see also [7][8][9]. For SOU 433, see also [10] to [15].)

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESH115 - Excavation at the Back of the Walls Drum Tower in 1975 (Ref: SOU 115)
• ESH253 - Excavation at the Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls in 1986 (Ref: SOU 253)
• ESH395 - Excavation on Back of the Walls in 1989 (Ref: SOU 395)
• ESH433 - Investigations at Back of the Walls between 1990 and 1992 (Ref: SOU 433)

Related records

Associated Links: None recorded

Images

Town wall north of God's House Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower and town wall to south, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower and town wall to south, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Town wall, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower and town walls to south, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Town wall north of Dovecote Tower, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower and town wall, looking south along Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower and town walls, Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower and town walls, looking south along Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower and town walls, looking south along Back of the Walls, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Lower Canal Walk, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Lower Canal Walk, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Lower Canal Walk, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Lower Canal Walk, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Lower Canal Walk, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Lower Canal Walk, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower and town wall, Lower Canal Walk, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower and town wall, Lower Canal Walk, 30.8.09 (camera date not set), © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower and town wall, Back of the Walls, 6/9/09, © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Lower Canal Walk, 6/9/09, © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Lower Canal Walk, 6/9/09, © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower and town wall, Lower Canal Walk, 6/9/09, © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower and town wall, Lower Canal Walk, 6/9/09, © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower and town wall, Lower Canal Walk, 6/9/09, © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower and town wall, Lower Canal Walk, 6/9/09, © I Peckham
Town wall and Dovecote Tower, Lower Canal Walk, 6/9/09, © I Peckham	Dovecote Tower, Lower Canal Walk, 6/9/09, © I Peckham
Dovecote Tower, Lower Canal Walk, 6/9/09, © I Peckham

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