Newcastle upon Tyne town defences: section of curtain wall including Plummer Tower and a 17th century bastion

Scheduled area

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History & significance

Newcastle upon Tyne town defences is a section of fortification comprising medieval curtain wall with Plummer Tower and an associated seventeenth-century bastion, situated in Northumberland, England. The curtain wall forms part of the substantial defensive circuit constructed from the twelfth century onwards to protect the growing town, with the medieval masonry representing the primary phase of fortification. Plummer Tower, a stone tower integrated into the wall line, exemplifies the tower-based defensive strategy characteristic of medieval urban fortifications. The addition of the seventeenth-century bastion reflects the adaptation of Newcastle's defences to accommodate early modern artillery and gunpowder warfare, demonstrating the evolution of military engineering across several centuries.

Newcastle upon Tyne town defences: section of curtain wall including Plummer Tower and a 17th century bastion is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1019812. View the official record →

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