Newcastle town wall, Wallknoll or Sallyport Tower

HER Number:
1562

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Newcastle town wall, Wallknoll or Sallyport Tower

Place:
Newcastle

Map Sheet:
NZ26SE

Class:
Defence

Site Type: Broad:
Town Defences

Site Type: Specific:
Town Wall

General Period:
Medieval

Specific Period:
C14

Form of Evidence:
Ruined Building

Description:
Walknoll, Sallyport or (Ships) Carpenters' Tower was presumably that which caused the emigration of the Carmelite Friars at the beginning of the 14th century. It was originally a rectangular tower, 28 feet North-South, 25.5 feet East-West, projecting to the field and standing on the hill at a point where the wall changed direction. It had a vaulted basement, 3 loops (on the East, West and North sides), all outside the curtain, a South door and a newel stair in the South-West angle. The stair once led to a mural chamber in the curtain wall, and presumably to the wall walk and roof of the tower. At the South end of its East wall was the sallyport through the curtain. In 1716 the Shipwrights' Company enlarged the tower, giving it a long East-West axis, and built a hall on the first floor with access by stairs at the East end. The Company retained it until the mid-19th century after which it had a number of uses and was rescued from dereliction and possibly demolition in the 1960s. SCHEDULED ANCIENT MONUMENT AND LISTED GRADE 1

Easting:
2547

Northing:
6415

Grid Reference:
NZ25476415

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 1562 >> J. Brand, 1789, History of Newcastle, I, 17-18 R.E. Hooppell, 1886, The Town Wall of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in Pandon Dene, Archaeologia Aeliana, 2, XI, 238 S. Holmes, 1896, The Town Walls of Newcastle upon Tyne, Archaeologia Aeliana, 2, XVIII, 19-20 C.H.H. Blair, et al. 1958, Wall Knoll, Sallyport or Carpenters' Tower, Archaeologia Aeliana, 4, XXXVI, 61-72; Grace McCombie, 2009, Newcastle and Gateshead - Pevsner Architectural Guide, p 130-1.