This long-awaited publication elucidates a remarkable monument, now
preserved in situ beside the Tower of London. Excavations at Tower Hill
in 1979 uncovered substantial remains of the medieval postern gate at
the junction of the City's defensive wall and the moat of the Tower of
London. The postern gate was constructed between 1297 and 1308, towards
the close of the reign of Edward I. It formed a defensible terminus to
the City wall and a minor gateway suitable for pedestrian traffic. The
base of a rectangular tower survived on the south side of the gate
passage, along with a staircase turret. The structure had a cellar and a
ground floor chamber with a suspended timber floor, the superstructure
surviving to the level of the arrow loops. The tower must have had at
least one upper floor. These remarkable remains survived because of a
dramatic landslip in 1431 or 1440, when the southern part of the
structure slipped at least three metres down the side of the moat. The
northern part of the gate probably remained standing whilst the
underpinned southern tower provided the foundation for a rebuilt postern
gate. Cartographic evidence shows that a postern gate stood on the site
until at least the 17th century. Thematic aspects include documentary
evidence that the gate was administered by the City rather than the
nearby royal castle, the question of whether there was a Roman gate in
the adjascent city wall, the appearance of the gateway and the character
of the Tower Hill area in the 16th and 17th centuries.
