AN ANCIENT tower where a king watched an epic battle unfold has been restored to its former glory.
After eight months of structural works the 30ft King Charles’s Tower is the latest city walls attraction to feature on what is hoped to become one of Europe’s leading heritage trails.
The tower, which was badly damaged during the Civil War and was showing signs of damage and weathering, was restored as part of a £3m revamp of the city walls in a bid to pull even more visitors to the only complete Roman Wall circuit in the UK.
Now, visitors will be able to access a special balcony, by walking up steps carved out of the ancient walls, and stand on the very spot where King Charles watched over the battlefield nearly 480 years ago.
Cllr Stuart Parker, executive member for culture and recreation, said: “The tower is yet another marvellous City Walls feature and is sure to prove a big attraction to visitors across the world.
“This is one more very important step to achieving our aim of making Chester’s city walls one of Europe’s leading heritage destinations.”
Works saw specialist engineers stabilise the sandstone tower floor, where King Charles watched the battle of Rowton Heath in 1645, and repair serious faults to the ceilings, floors, lintels and stone windows of the building’s walk-level and upper chambers.
And inside the octagonal lower chamber a lightweight constraining frame was anchored to the external walls, to prevent any further outward movement, and improvements to access, lighting and audio visual aids were carried out.
The tower formerly known as the Phoenix Tower after the sign of Painters and Stationers Guild that used to meet there, was restored with the help of European Portico Project funding, which has been used to restore the length of the two-mile walls to their former glory.
