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Latitude: 51.6674 / 51°40'2"N
Longitude: -4.7164 / 4°42'58"W
OS Eastings: 212246
OS Northings: 200004
OS Grid: SN122000
Mapcode National: GBR GD.RZX8
Mapcode Global: VH2PS.6CH4
Plus Code: 9C3QM78M+WC
Entry Name: The Watch Tower
Listing Date: 26 April 1996
Last Amended: 26 April 1996
Grade: II
Source: Cadw
Source ID: 16916
Building Class: Maritime
Also known as: The Watchtower
ID on this website: 300016916
Location: On the summit of the Black Rock promontory overlooking the Ritec. The view from the tower is now obscured by trees.
County: Pembrokeshire
Community: Penally (Penalun)
Community: Penally
Locality: Four Winds Lane
Built-Up Area: Penally
Traditional County: Pembrokeshire
Tagged with: Architectural structure Tower Beacon Watchtower
Fenton (1810) refers to the many theories about the purpose of this old tower. Comparison with the very similar Irish round towers is ruled out as the latter were never built, as this evidently was, in isolation. It is more likely that the purpose of this tower relates to the fact that it was built at a time long before the Ritec ceased to be a large open navigable estuary; it may have been a lookout tower or intended to assist shipping as a landmark or a signalling tower. It may also be significant that there was a mediaeval watch tower on Caldey, at a distance of 3.5 km, with a line of view to the Penally tower. In the late C19 Edward Laws restored the Penally tower, to an unknown extent, using old stone taken from ruins in Tenby.
A small tower, slightly tapering in shape. It is 3.5 m diameter at its base and survives to a height of about 6 m. Rubble masonry. Fenton describes the foundation as a 'factitious cake of lime and sand'. The tower is of two storeys, with an entrance at the NW side with a re-used pointed arch. A slit window faces the sea.
Ancient Monument no. Pe 439
Listed as an old landmark, lookout or signalling tower for shipping before the reclamation of the Ritec estuary.
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