This is all that is left of Carliol Tower, which once formed an important cornerstone of Newcastle's old town walls. They sit under the staircase of the City Library, looking out over John Dobson Street and the Laing Art Gallery. The inscription on the metallic plaque is pretty much impossible to read (it being too difficult to get near enough to the same!), so here's what it says:
"1307-1968. These stones from the Carliol Tower which was demolished when the former Central Library was erected in 1880, form a link with medieval Newcastle, and were handed over to the architects by Alderman Lady Wynne-Jones BA on February 8, 1968.
Sir Basil Spence, Glover & Ferguson Architects. Councillor Joseph Cox, Chairman."
The tower formed the north-east corner of the town's medieval perimeter wall, and was situated in what is now the cycle lane of John Dobson Street, precisely where the pedestrian crossing is which links the library to the Laing Art Gallery. Unfortunately it had to go when plans were afoot to lay the new road in the late 1960s.
It is interesting to ponder where exactly the stones were during the period 1968-2009 (2009 being when the new library was opened). I certainly don't remember seeing them in the building which existed from c.1968 to c.2009. Perhaps someone out there can enlighten me.
You can read more about Carliol Tower in an article in my soon-to-be-released 3rd volume of Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Fragments of the Past. I'll let you all know when it becomes available!
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