York Historic Environment Record

Formerly known as: Roman Corner Towers ALDWARK. Part of the north-east wall of the Roman fortress, extending south-east to remains of east angle tower and incorporating remains of one interval tower. c200 AD on foundations c110 AD. By the IXth and VIth Legions. Earlier foundations of clay and cobble; later structures have limestone rubble core, towers and inner side of wall faced with dressed limestone, outer side of wall with ashlar. Wall approximately 60 metres long and 5 metres high in front of the angle tower; chamfered plinth and cornice, chamfered on lower face, beneath former parapet and walk, now lost. Remains of angle tower approximately 2 metres high, roughly rectangular on plan, built against curving wall of fortress east angle. Interval tower approximately 40 metres north-west of the east angle tower, approximately .66 metres visible above ground and roughly rectangular on plan.

Plates (but perhaps not on online version) and fuller description available in RCHME publication https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/york/vol1/pp5-47

(City of York: RCHME: Roman York: HMSO: 1962-: 29-35).

NMR info (Angle Tower):
The East angle tower is visible above ground behind the Merchant Taylor's Hall. It was partly excavated in 1926 and the upper part exposed in 1953.(2)

Published survey revised. The excavated tower is enclosed by a retaining wall and is to be left open. Its walls are exposed to a depth of 2.0m. See GP AO/63/113/6. The last excavtion of the tower has been left open, and the wall core is exposed to a depth of 0.7m. See GP Ao/63/113/5.(3)

Roman East corner tower. C2. Exposed excavated Roman masonry. Listed Grade I. (4)

Sources:
1 Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)
Default value used to record large numbers of archive items which are not separately catalogued. See Monument Recording Guidelines for details of use. OS 1:1250 1961
2 An inventory of the historical monuments in the City of York. Volume I: Eburacum: Roman York 1962 Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, England 29-31
3 Field Investigators Comments F1 RW Emsley, 05-Jun-1963
4 List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest
Default value used to record large numbers of archive items which are not separately catalogued. See Monument Recording Guidelines for details of use. City of York, Jun-1983, 7

[Towers NE 1-5 have not been discovered and are conjectural positions.]

RCHME, 1962, Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of York, Volume 1 Eboracum, p29-30 (Bibliographic reference). SYO62.

NMR, 2019, NMR data (Digital archive). SYO2214.