The Town-Quay's Watch Tower
An 18th century illustration of Cardiff shows another watchtower, long since gone. The Buck brother’s print of 1748 clearly depicts the Town Quay and some sailing ships anchored alongside. In amongst the latter one can discern a substantial tower, not a gate. It was a square structure, possibly twelve to fifteen feet (or four by five meters) long on each side, and about the height of a ship’s mast, i.e. twenty-five to thirty feet (or eight to nine meters) tall. It had a pyramidal, tiled roof. In 1849-53, during the excavation for the third Town Hall building, foundations of a former wall of considerable proportions were discovered "…including circular steps within what was probably a tower near the site of the former Blount’s Gate" (33). Unfortunately, the source of this information has never been published and can therefore not be verified. However, a short reference was made to it in an article in an 1882 issue of the Western Mail (34). If William Rees’ proposition is correct, then this must have been the tower shown on the Buck brother’s print. If so, then this tower had an internal spiral staircase and several windows. Whether it was always part of the town wall or was introduced during the rebuilding and upgrading of it in the 15th century, is no longer possible to say. It is likely to have been added at the latest when the gate to the Town Quay was built.