Mediæval Military Architecture in England, Volume 2 (of 2)Clark, George Thomas
History
Mediæval Military Architecture in England, Volume 2 (of 2)
Clark, George Thomas
Architecture -- England; Architecture, Medieval; Military architecture
The Wakefield Tower was the subject of a restoration in 1867, when
all its modern disfigurements were removed, and the original masonry
exposed. The brick casing was stripped from the parapet, the roof taken
down, the interior fittings cleared away, and the brick and stone work
with which the loops, enlarged into windows, had been made good, was
removed.
The clearance included certain public garderobes, built against the
north face of the tower, and a private garderobe, niched into the
junction with the Bloody Tower, and thus was shown the original base of
the latter, and the remains of a bold cordon encircling it 6 feet from
the ground. Here also was exposed a loop and a curious hole, about 3
feet diameter, and 3 feet or 4 feet deep, of doubtful use. Besides the
removal of these additions, the timber work of the ground-floor was
cleared out, and the double circle of posts shown to be of modern date,
inserted to support the additional weight of the records. The timbers
of the ceiling were original. The main beams of oak, 6 feet by 6 feet,
went deep into the wall, and were evidently laid when the upper floor
was added by Henry III. They rested upon fragments of early roofing
tiles.
The central post, also of oak, was found to stand upon a plain stone
cylinder 2 feet 6 inches diameter and 3 feet 6 inches high. This again
rested upon a thick square slab of oak, which was placed upon the head
of a short pile, only partially decayed. Beneath the floor was laid 2
feet of broken tiles, and below this, gravel, so charged with moisture
that a pit sunk 5 feet stood with 2 feet of water.
Of the arched recesses the masonry was sound, save a crack in the
spandrels of that to the west. It was clear that the three southern
recesses had contained original loops. That to the west seemed to have
been walled up when the Bloody Tower was built. The northern recess
was different, as though the loop had been lifted on account of the
exterior ground having been raised.
The vaulting ribs of the first floor did not seem to have been
completed. The north-western recess had been a fireplace, which the
original herring-bone fire-back showed to have been very shallow, so
as to require a hood, which two holes in the wall indicated to have
been of timber. The south-eastern aperture was double. There was a
small window with a drop arch and hollow chamfer, and steps up to it,
and by its side a doorway pointing to the Water Tower, and no doubt
intended to open on a small bridge.
The eastern recess now shows the oratory. The original window was
narrow and drop pointed. On the wall are traces of fresco painting.
There is also a piscina and a locker, and on each side a recess as for
a sedile. That in the north wall has been cut as though for a doorway.
The original door to this floor seems to have been in the north-east
side.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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