Bonewaldesthorne Tower is a Grade I listed building in the Cheshire West and Chester local planning authority area, England. First listed on 28 July 1955. A Medieval Tower.
Bonewaldesthorne Tower
- WRENN ID
- final-baluster-river
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Constituency
- Chester North and Neston MP: Samantha Dixon (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 28 July 1955
- Type
- Tower
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Bonewaldesthorne Tower, City Walls
- OS grid reference
- SJ 400 665
- Coordinates
- 53.19268, -2.89893
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Bonewaldesthorne Tower
This wall tower stands at the north-west corner of Chester's City Walls. It is documented from 1249–61 but was rebuilt or substantially altered in 1322–6, after which it served as the gatehouse to the Water Tower.
The tower is constructed of red sandstone coursed rubble, now heavily eroded. It features a tall plinth with three weathered caps to the north and one to the south, a blank storey now filled in, a storey accessed seven stone steps up from the Row walk level, and battlements set upon an eroded string course. The entrance has chamfered jambs and an arch of two stones, with an oak boarded door. A doorway on the opposite side connects to the spur wall leading to the Water Tower.
Inside, the tower contains a fireplace, a stair (now closed) that originally gave access to the battlements, and defensive loops. The masonry of the south-west quadrant suggests the tower was originally built as a drum shape. In 1322, it was squared off to the north along the line of the spur wall to the Water Tower and rebuilt to a square plan with a canted south-west corner above the wall-walk level.
Local climate
Bonewaldesthorne Tower receives an average of 890 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 66% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 78% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 31 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 62% of listed buildings. Of these, 14 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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Nearby listed buildings
- Spur Wall and Water Tower
- Telfords Warehouse
- Diocesan House
- City Wall from Bonewaldesthorne Tower to Pembertons Parlour
- Bridge Lock on Canal Link from River Dee to Chester Basin
- Pembertons Parlour
- Northgate Locks
- Part of City Wall from Pembertons Parlour to St Martins Gate (Not Included)
- Chester Royal Infirmary
- Part of City Wall from the Watergate to Bonewaldesthorne Tower