Coldharbour Gate

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Coldharbour Gate
Location of Coldharbour Gate (No. 10) in the Tower of London.

The Coldharbour Gate was 1238-1676 a gatehouse in the fortress of the Tower of London . It stood at the transition from the Inner Fortress Ring to the Inner Fortress Ring ( Coldharbour ). Only fragments are left of the gate.

The gate was built under Heinrich III. 1238 as the last part of his fortification of the innermost fortress ring. It probably replaced an older gate, of which remnants may have been found on the White Tower . The layout of the fortress and the defenses at this point also suggests that there was already a passage in the Roman city wall Londinium . The Coldharbour Gate itself was a typical gatehouse of its time, with two round towers guarding a reinforced corridor in the middle.

The first demolition work on the gate took place in the 17th century. At that time, the White Tower kept large quantities of gunpowder. To reduce the risk of explosion, the Board of Ordnance demolished buildings and chimneys near the White Tower. These included several chimneys that were part of Coldharbour Gate. For the Board of Ordnance, however, this only meant the beginning of major renovations. The character of the tower had changed from that of a fortress to a large workshop and warehouse. Starting in 1670, the board had all the buildings near the endangered White Tower torn down, effectively abolishing the innermost fortress ring, building new storage and administration buildings in the tower and finally starting in 1675 with the demolition of Coldharbour Gate. On September 16 of that year, the lead on the roof was removed and placed on the roof of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich . On November 18, a group of workers was ordered to demolish the building entirely. They were done with it by July 1676. This was the first time the White Tower was vacant in over 400 years.

It was only during excavation and renovation work on the White Tower from 1953 to 1956 that archaeologists rediscovered the foundation walls of Coldharbour Gate. They have been restored and are identified as part of the Tower exhibition.

Remarks

  1. ^ Edward Impey, Geoffrey Parnell: The Tower of London. The official illustrated history. Merrell, London 2000, ISBN 1-85894-106-7 , p. 31
  2. ^ Edward Impey, Geoffrey Parnell: The Tower of London. The official illustrated history. Merrell, London 2000, ISBN 1-85894-106-7 , p. 17
  3. ^ Simon Bradley, Nikolas Pevsner: London 1, The city of London, 1997, London: Penguin. ISBN 0140710922 , p. 367
  4. ^ Edward Impey, Geoffrey Parnell: The Tower of London. The official illustrated history. Merrell, London 2000, ISBN 1-85894-106-7 , p. 65
  5. ^ Edward Impey, Geoffrey Parnell: The Tower of London. The official illustrated history. Merrell, London 2000, ISBN 1-85894-106-7 , pp. 67-68
  6. ^ Edward Impey, Geoffrey Parnell: The Tower of London. The official illustrated history. Merrell, London 2000, ISBN 1-85894-106-7 , p. 115

Web links

Commons : Coldharbour Gate  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 28.8 "  N , 0 ° 4 ′ 35.2"  W.