Monument record 12000/16 - Chester City Walls - Saddlers' Tower

Saddlers' Tower was a medieval, quadrangular tower c 45m north of the Kaleyard Gate, along the eastern wall of the city. Its name was derived from the fact that between 1557 and 1565 it was used for meetings by the Saddlers' Company. The structure was taken down in 1779 and in 1823 the abutment which marked the former site of it was also removed, during repairs that followed the partial collapse of the wall at this location (1 - 4). The only observable post-1708 disturbance to the wall at this point is on the outer face at SJ.40656656, where the masonry is consistent with c1800 alterations (5). During restoration work carried out in 1993 (ECH4273), the repaired section of the city wall (CHER 12000/15) at the location where Saddler’s Tower had been demolished was identified (11), and in a small trench excavated in 1988 (ECH5097) the footings for Saddler’s Tower that survive below ground were recorded.

<1> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Ormerod G 1882 1/355-6 (Book). SCH1389.

<2> Simpson, F., 1910, The Walls of Chester, /15 (Book). SCH3255.

<3> Morris, Rupert H (Rev.), 1894, Chester in the Plantagenet & Tudor Reigns, /245 (Book). SCH946.

<4> Harris, B.E., 1979, Bartholomew City Guides - Chester, /80-81 (Book). SCH394.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ46NW26.13/1964 (Index). SCH2487.

<6> Lewis C.P & Thacker A.T. (eds), 2005, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume Vii, The City of Chester - The City of Chester, Culture, Buildings, Institutions, p220 (Book). SCH6522.

<7> Donald Insall Associates, Chester City Walls Conservation Management Plan, R3251 (Client Report). SCH6603.

<8> Grosvenor Museum, 1988, Grosvenor Museum Excavation section: Current Activities & Upcoming Sites (Unpublished Report). SCH6282.

<9> LeQuesne C, 1999, Excavations at Chester: The Roman and Later Defences Part I (Monograph). SCH6156.

<10> Chester Archaeology, 1988, Defences of Roman Chester: Discoveries made on the East Wall, 1988. North of the Kaleyard Gate (Unpublished Report). SCH6621.

<11> Chester Archaeology, 1993, Chester City Walls (East) - 1993 Interim Report, R2680 (Client Report). SCH4787.