The main reason for the re-visit, was to get some photos of the security of this building, namely, the draw-bar-slot in the main East facing doorway. Apart from the thickness of the walls, the fact that the main doors all exited into a semi-secure courtyard, the draw-bar-slot represents a clear desire for this building to be secured. Against whom...I'm not sure. It's very possible, as with any buildings with this form of security\minor defence, that it was designed purely and simply as security. There's also the possibility that this could be classed as a 'light fortification', but seeing as the building obviously had windows at ground floor level, I'm not sure this is really the case. It's possible that any desire for defence or security, was influenced by a Scottish raid in the area dating from 1322. This was a wide ranging period of disturbance, with many villages in the area being raided and damaged. 
Detail of the draw-bar-slot built into the thickness of the wall.
The draw-bar-slot vanishes into the wall to the depth of about three feet, and is about 9 inches square. It was obviously quite a large draw-bar that was used to secure this external door.
The above photos shows three smaller draw-bar type slots (one now filled) in one of the central doors. There are three doors of this type, side by side in this wall, and this is the only door with these shallow, oblong slots. This door originally led to a small room that was used either as a pantry or a buttery...so what use security would have been here, is debatable. There's every possibility of course that the use of the room changed at some point. 
The Newgate
The Water Gate
Up until the 18th century, the River Dee actually came right up to the city walls at this point, giving the gate its present name.
During its construction the remains of a Roman tower were found.
The North Gate
The East Gate
The clock that sits atop the gate commemorates Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee of 1897.
The tower is open on certain days of the year.
What can be seen today, certainly at wall height, is only a portion of what must have been a much larger, taller tower. When looked at from the Roman Gardens below, the damaged part of the tower can still be seen, with the repairs bringing the stump of the tower back to wall height.
The tower is best viewed from the Roman Gardens below, where the path leads right along the base of the walls.
There are great views to be had across the River Dee and to the Church of St John, where the attacking Parliamentarian forces stationed their canons in the bombardment of the city.
It is best viewed from the road near the Roman Amphitheatre, and is easily missed. Its recent steepled roof (added in 1994) doesn't immediately indicate it's age, but peering through the windows whilst walking past on the walls, the interior can be tantalisingly glimpsed through the dirty glass.
It's a difficult tower to photograph, as can be seen here. Like the Watch Tower, what is seen today is only a portion, height wise, of the original tower.
The tower probably dates from the 13th century, and was partially destroyed during the Civil War when the city was besieged. It was probably a drum tower, when complete and in use, but not much remains of it now.
The tower was again probably built in the 13th century, and what can be seen today is only a small portion of the original structure.
The crenellations date only from the 19th century, and the tower was dropped in height in 1876\87 as part of the development of the wall walk.
The tower affords excellent views out across the River Dee.
The footings, excavated in 1930, probably date from somewhere between the late 1st century to the early 2nd century.
The ditches in front of this small portion of Roman remains have been dug out to demonstrate the extent of the Roman defences.
The original medieval tower would have been much taller than the current structure, almost twice as high in fact, and was demolished between 1702 and 1708, with its replacement being erected in 1894.
It's thought that this tower got its name from John Pemberton, who may have once stood on here watching his workmen working below the city walls in his rope works.
Measuring 30 feet by 27 feet, this almost square tower had walls some 4 feet thick.
Built in 1640, on the site of an earlier tower, it was used during the Civil War as a gun emplacement supposedly by Captain William Morgan or his son Edward Morgan, to direct fire against the Parliamentarian forces besieging Chester.
It was originally, and imaginatively, called The Raised Square Platform.
It was severely damaged in the 18 month siege (between 1644 and 1646), and largely rebuilt in 1658, with more repairs and changes taking place in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
Above the doorway, at the top of a small flight of stairs, the Royal coat of arms can be seen, together with a memorial plaque commemorating the defeat of King Charles' army.
This tower is linked with the 11th and 12th century extension of the city walls, and probably stands on foundations from this date. It was, like so much of the masonry on this walk, damaged during the Civil War, and repaired thereafter.
The tower now houses a camera obscura and is open on certain days of the year.
The castle can best be seen from Castle Street, from the wall walk, and from across the River Dee in St Edgar's Field. All that is immediately visible, is the huge grass covered motte, erected in 1070 by William the Conqueror, and the red sandstone walls that top the mound.
The above photo shows the castle from the South, from the wall walk.
The above photo shows the South West corner of the motte, with the walls and the canon slits.
The Flag tower, not seen on this visit, is one of the original towers built to protect the summit of the motte. It is now in ruins. The Agricola tower would also be in a poor state of repair, but it has been refaced over the years, and is now in a good state of repair. The Agricola tower still contains a consecrated chapel, dedicated to St Mary de Castro, and in use as a regimental chapel, used by the Cheshire Regiment.
A view of the castle from the West, showing the full extent of the re-fortifications on 1745, including the small round tower with the blocked up windows.
The castle can best be seen from Castle Street, from the wall walk, and from across the River Dee in St Edgar's Field. All that is immediately visible, is the huge grass covered motte, erected in 1070 by William the Conqueror, and the red sandstone walls that top the mound.
The Agricola tower can be seen towering above the Thomas Harrison designed buildings (erected between 1788 and 1822) along with the gun emplacement, a stretch of walls on top of the motte with huge cannon slits built in 1745 when the Jacobites were thought to be heading towards Chester.
Above. Sketch of Lancaster Castle, probably late 1600s or early 1700s.
Above. The gatehouse at Lancaster Castle (from personal collection)
Click on the plan for a full page view.
A good portion of the Norman and medieval parts of the castle survive. The Keep, built sometime around 1150, is the oldest part of the castle, and stands four storeys tall (20 metres in total) over walls some 3 metres thick. There seems to be a distinct lack of documentary evidence of the exact date the keep was built, who built it and how much it cost.
A view of the castle from the Ashton Memorial. Lancaster Priory can just be seen to the right.
The gatehouse is thought to have been built around 1400 at the command of Henry IV after the original gatehouse and probably some of the castle was damaged during the Scottish invasion of 1389. The new gatehouse was built with two elongated polygonal fronted towers measuring some 8 metres in width. Both of the towers are around 20 metres in height, equipped with a massive portcullis and two doors. The battlements are built out over the corbels of the roof and would have enabled the defenders to easily target attackers as they attempted to breach the castle walls and the gatehouse door.
The Well or Witche’s Tower was probably built around 1325, although it’s likely that what we see today is a rebuild of a much earlier structure, possibly dating from around 1190….a few years after the keep was erected. It gained its name “The Witche’s Tower” after the Pendle Witches were imprisoned here before their trials and eventual executions. The tower measures around 12 by 10 metres, and rises to four storeys. The other name, the Well tower comes from the fact that the tower’s basement contained two of the castle’s wells.
Adrian's Tower. Refaced and hence hiding its medieval origin.
Adrian’s Tower was built around 1210, and measures about 10 metres. Apparently the name reflects local tradition that the tower was originally built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian…obviously dropping the H along the way!! Although the original medieval masonry can still be seen inside the tower, its age is somewhat hidden by the refaced stonework, probably added towards the end of the 18th century.
The Shire Hall sits outside of the original foot print of the castle (see the map above) This addition to the castle was built between 1796 and 1798, and housed the courts. It is of a non-defensible build.
The Shire Hall.
The formidable gatehouse.
