More information : The site of Mortimer's Tower at Kenilworth Castle. This was the main medieval entrance to the castle. Its name derives from William Dugdale's (a 17th century antiquarian) account of Roger Mortimer who hosted a tournament at the castle in 1279. The gatehouse comprised two D-shaped towers and was built at the time of King John in about 1210-1215 as part of the stone defences for the outer bailey. The towers would have been at least another storey high with battlements. The linking passage contains grooves for a portcullis which would have been operated using a winch located in the floor above. A survey in 1563 records a door on each side led to two porter's lodges with fireplaces.
The walls and portcullis slot of an earlier simpler gatehouse survive at the inner end of the passage. Mortimer's tower was dismantled following the Civil War in 1650. (1)
Scheduled. The original gatehouse of the outer court, Mortimer's Tower, occupies the northern end of the dam and two periods of construction are visible. It was originally a 12th century square gate tower, to which two drum towers which flank the gate passage, were added in the 13th century. At the dam's southern end are the standing remains of the rectangular Gallery Tower which was erected to defend this end of the dam. (2)
The site lies within a Registered Park and Garden. (3)
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