King Charles Tower
Sun, 08 Sept
|Chester City Walls
Drop in and visit the King Charles Tower on Chester's City Walls during both Heritage Open Days weekends. Volunteers from Cheshire Historic Buildings Preservation Trust, and Chester Heritage Festival will be manning the building.
Time & Location
08 Sept 2024, 11:00 – 16:00
Chester City Walls, Chester CH1 3EQ
About the event
King Charles' Tower stands on the North-East corner of the city walls over-looking the canal. Parts of the tower date back to the 13th Century. It was originally called Newton's Tower, but later was used as a meeting place for the Guilds and renamed the Phoenix Tower after their emblem. It gained the name King Charles' Tower because on the 24th of September 1645, King Charles I stood on the tower and watched his defeated army return towards the city from skirmishes following the battle of Rowton Moor earlier in the day. The Inscription above the door reads: 'King Charles Stood on this Tower Sept. 24 1645. And saw his army defeated on Rowton Moor'. However come and see how this would have been impossible! Drop in and visit the two-storey medieval tower free of charge, and learn more about its fascinating history and restoration in 2013. Visitors will be able to make a voluntary donation to the work of CHBPT.
The tower can be accessed via the ramp to the city walls from Bell Tower Walk, the pedestrian passageway from St Werburgh Street south of the Cathedral. The lower level of the tower is fully accessible. The upper level is only accessible via a flight of steps.
TheTower will also be open on Saturday 7, Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 September from 11am -4pm.