This tower was built between 1504 and 1507 replacing an earlier tower called Talkan Tower.

Next to the tower are the remains of a small postern gate - the posternam iuxta Skarletpit - meaning the postern next to the Scarlet Pit, presumably a pool in the River Foss.

The tower has not changed since it was built 500 years ago. The only difference is the roof. Originally it had a flat roof. Now it has a tiled roof. The flat roof did not last long - and someone's desire for a penthouse with a view across to York Castle was satisfied at some point during the sixteenth century!

The remains of at least three horses were recovered during an archaeological excavation of one of the towers in 1995. They had been dumped there in the seventeenth century by a local fellmonger (a horse butcher to you and me).