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We are now at an interesting portion of the Walls. Do you see that mouldering old turret some fifty yards a-head of us? Three hundred years ago it was familiarly known as Newton’s Tower; but the men of the present day call it the Phœnix Tower, from the figure of the phœnix, which is the crest of one of the city companies, ornamenting the front of the structure. Look up, as we approach it, and read, over its elevated portal, the startling announcement, that

KING CHARLES

Stood on this Tower

September 24th, 1645, and saw

His Army defeated

On Rowton Moor.

Let us mount the rugged steps, and having reached the summit, gaze awhile on the beautiful scene before us.

To our left is the suburb of Newtown, a creation of the present century,—the modest little spire of Christ Church pointing to the thoughtful wayfarer another and a better world. Yonder, just visible above the intervening buildings, the noble façade of the Railway Station arrests the eye. Farther to the right, the Lead Works’ Shot Tower again presents itself; while beneath us, at a depth of about forty feet, the sleepy Canal flows languidly along, scarce a ripple distracting its glassy surface. The bridge that crosses it is Cowlane Bridge, whence we obtained the first glimpse of the Cathedral, en route from the station. Just over the canal is the new Cattle Market, the Cestrian Smithfield,—translated hither from Northgate Street in 1849. That heavy-looking building just over the Bridge is the Independent Chapel in Queen Street; while full south, the lofty steeple and church of St. John “lend enchantment to the view.” Beyond all these, some ten or a dozen miles away, the rocky heights of Beeston salute the eye, capped with the ruins of a Castle, built by Earl Randle Blundeville,—a fortress which was several times taken and retaken by the Royalists and Roundheads in the great Civil War. To the right again, the stately form of the fine old Cathedral, like a nursing mother, watches peacefully o’er the city. The Walls beneath us are full of interest to the archæologist, for through almost their entire length between this Tower and the Eastgate, the old Roman masonry may yet be distinguished, forming the lower courses nearest the foundations.