Thimbleby's Tower, formerly known as Wolf's Tower, is a structure in the city walls

Chester city walls

.Chester city walls consist of a defensive structure built to protect the city of Chester in Cheshire, England. Their construction was started by the Romans when they established the fortress of Deva Victrix between 70 and 80 AD. It originated with a rampart of earth and turf surmounted by a...

 of Chester

Chester

Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

, Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, England. It stands on the eastern section of the walls, between Eastgate and Newgate

Newgate, Chester

Newgate is an arch bridge carrying the walkway of the city walls over Pepper Street in Chester, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building. The bridge was built in 1938 to relieve traffic congestion in the city, especially at Chester Cross...

. The tower has been designated by English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

 as a Grade I listed building.

History

The tower probably dates originally from the 13th century. It was partly demolished in the siege of Chester in 1644–46 during the Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

. Between 1702 and 1708 the whole of the city walls was converted into a raised walkway and it is likely that the tower was modified as part of this process. Repairs were carried out to it in 1879. It was further altered in 1994–95 for Chester City Council by Peter de Figuerdo.

Architecture

Thimbleby's Tower is constructed in coursed

Course (architecture)

A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units .-Styles:...

 red sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

 rubble

Rubble

Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture. This word is closely connected in derivation with "rubbish", which was formerly also applied to what we now call "rubble". Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as brash...

. Its plan is semi-octagonal, and it appears to be the outer part of a drum tower without its upper storeys. The lower chamber contains three loops (unglazed slit windows), and at the level of the walkway are the springers

Springer (architecture)

A springer is an architectural term for the lowest voussoir on each side of an arch. Since it is the bottom-most element of the arch, it is where the arch support terminates at the responds. It rests on the impost or pier of the arch, that is, the topmost part of the abutment, from which the arch...

 of a former vault

Vault (architecture)

A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...

. During the 1994–95 alterations, the stone parapet

Parapet

A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...

 between the walkway and the tower was replaced by an oak-framed polycarbonate

Polycarbonate

PolycarbonatePhysical PropertiesDensity 1.20–1.22 g/cm3Abbe number 34.0Refractive index 1.584–1.586FlammabilityV0-V2Limiting oxygen index25–27%Water absorption – Equilibrium0.16–0.35%Water absorption – over 24 hours0.1%...

 screen. A steeply-pitched gable

Gable

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...

d roof, hung with tiles, was added to the top of the structure. The citation in the National Heritage List for England states that this "masks its former defensive features and purpose".