La Tour (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Coldharbour; Cold Harbrough

In the civil parish of City Of London.
In the historic county of London and Middlesex.
Modern Authority of City and County of the City of London.
1974 county of Greater London.
Medieval County of City of London.

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ327806
Latitude 51.51060° Longitude -0.09335°

La Tour has been described as a probable Fortified Town House.

There are no visible remains.

Description

La Tour, a waterfront property on Upper Thames Street later to be called Coldharbour, was a building brought by Alice Perrers, a mistress of Edward III, after 1370. Alice received many gifts from a King in his dotage although she was also noted for her own exceptional business acumen. She spent considerable sum on La Tour which she extensively rebuilt. As with all her property it was seized in 1377 and was in royal or noble hands during the 15th century. An account of repairs made in 1484-5 mentions several chambers and the name suggests perhaps these chambers were in the form of suites in a tower, presumably attached to the recorded Great Hall on the riverside. This may well be the 'crenellated tower with two large windows' shown in Wyngaerde's mid 16th century Panorama.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Books
- Renn, Derek., 2014, 'The other towers of London' in Hidden histories and records of antiquity; essays on Saxon and medieval London for John Clark, curator emeritus, Museum of London (London and Middlesex Archaeology Society Special Paper 17) p. 32-5
  Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 223
  Schofield, J., 1995, Medieval London Houses (Yale University Press) p. 217-8 No. 170 (also last paragraph of No. 169)
  Lobel, M.D. (ed), 1989, The City of London from prehistoric times to c.1520 British Atlas of Historic Towns Vol. 3 p. 69-70 (Oxford University Press) online copy
Periodical Articles
- Davis, Philip, 2010-11, 'Crenellated town houses in Medieval England' Castle Studies Group Journal Vol. 24 p. 270-91
  Harding, V., 1980, London Topographical Record Vol. 24 p. 20-3
  Honeybourne, M.B., 1965, 'The reconstructed map of London under Richard II' London Topographical Record Vol. 22 p. 49-50
  Kingsford, C.L., 1917, 'Historical Notes on Medieval London Houses (Part 2)' London Topographical Record Vol. 11 p. 74
  Kingsford, C.L., 1916, 'Historical Notes on Medieval London Houses (Part 1)' London Topographical Record Vol. 10 p. 94, 100
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Kingsford, C.L. (ed), 1908, A Survey of London, by John Stow: Reprinted from the text of 1603 Vol. 1 p. 237 online copy
  Anthony van den Wyngaerde, c. 1543, Panorama of London online copy

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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