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Summary

Angle tower at the north corner of York's Mediaeval defences. Variously know as the Bawing Tower in 1370, the Frost Tower in 1485, and Robin Hood Tower in 1622-29. It is difficult to ascertain its original form, but a plan of 1682 accords with a plan of it in 1886. The corner tower was then polygonal with three buttresses and a round opening, possibly a gunport, in the north face. The present tower was built in 1888-9 forming a 3/4 circle on plan. Subject to repair c.2012.

Monument Type(s)

• ANGLE TOWER (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• ANGLE TOWER (Extant 1682-1886, Late 17th Century to Late 19th Century - 1682 AD to 1886 AD)
• ANGLE TOWER (Built 1888-89, Late 19th Century - 1888 AD to 1889 AD)

Protected Status

• Listed Building
• Conservation Area
• Scheduled Monument

Full description

Tower 27 (NG 60315244. Pl. 34) at the N. angle of the defences was called the Bawing Tower in 1370, (fn. 68) the Frost Tower in 1485, (fn. 69) and Robin Hood Tower in 1622 and 1629. (fn. 70) Inconsistencies between the various maps of the city make it difficult to determine the original form, but Archer in c. 1682 shows the plan much as it existed in 1886; the corner was then polygonal with three buttresses and a round opening, possibly a gunport, in the N.E. face. The present tower was built in 1888–9. It forms a three-quarter circle on plan. Outside it has a base, then a chamfered setback below a neatly faced wall with eight cruciform slits in two staggered rows. The parapet, above a string course, has a small cruciform slit in each merlon. The platform is raised above the wall walk by five steps. The inside, entered through a doorway in the rear wall, is divided into a small lobby and a larger rounded room, roofed in concrete.

¶The rampart S.E. of this tower was examined by Miller in a section cut from the outside at about NG 60345241 (KL; Profile O, Fig. opp. p. 41). Evidently the Roman ditches had been allowed to silt up with black alluvial filling; at one place this was heaped into a ridge 2 ft. to 3 ft. high, perhaps as part of a boundary bank. Three strata were seen in the rampart, the lowest of which did not cover the Roman wall; the uppermost probably corresponded to the heightening of the rampart in the 13th century
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/york/vol2/pp108-138

Robin Hood's Tower rebuilt 1889.
Robin Hood's Tower has high chamfered plinth, 2 tiers of cruciform slits and embattled parapet above string course, merlons pierced by slits and with gabled inside and out.

Extract from English Heritage LB download dated: 22/08/2005

RCHME, 1962, Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of York, Volume 1 Eboracum, p124 (Bibliographic reference). SYO62.

NMR, 2019, NMR data (Digital archive). SYO2214.

Sources and further reading

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