Water Tower, Chester

The tower was built between 1322 and 1325, at which time it stood in the River Dee. It is attached to Bonewaldesthorne's Tower by a spur wall. The architect was John (de) Helpston who had also designed castles for King Edward II in North Wales. Its prime purpose was to defend the port of Chester, and it was also used to monitor the movements of shipping and to ensure that the custom dues were paid. The cost of the tower and the spur wall was £100 (equivalent to £|r=-4}}}} as of ). By the end of the 16th century the river had silted up and the tower was landlocked. During the Civil War the tower was attacked and damaged. From 1671 it was leased as a storehouse but in 1728 it was described as…

The tower and spur wall are built in sandstone rubble. The tower is about 75 ft high, and the wall is 97 ft long, just over 11 ft wide and about 24 ft high. An archway in the city walls leads to 44 stone steps on the way down to the tower. The wall is crenellated; this may be the only surviving example of medieval crenellation on the city walls. The tower is circular at its base with a square turret above, in two stages containing octagonal chambers, one above the other. A pointed archway leads from the wall into the lower chamber. In the angle between the tower and the wall was a small latrine. Five stone steps lead down from the archway through the wall (about 12 ft thick) to the lower…