English: Text below from Haringey Council website about Bruce Castle. (Accessed 7 July 2018.)

"The Round Tower was built at this time, [around 1514] constructed of narrow red bricks, made from local clay. The main fabric of the tower is made up of original Tudor bricks. Its walls are three feet thick. Nearby, at the original Tottenham parish church of All Hallows, the Tudor porch has similar moulded or ‘castellated’ brick ornament. The original purpose of the Round Tower is unknown. Current belief is that it may have been used for falconry as a ‘hawks mews’ (a place to rear young birds for hunting). In 1705, the 2nd Lord Coleraine was writing about the history of Tottenham. Even he knew nothing about the tower, saying:

‘... in respect of its great antiquity more than conveniency, I keep the old brick tower in good repair, although I am not able to discover the founder thereof’’.

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I've walked past the tower many times. But taking a new photo and re-reading this quote I wondered: 'How can that be?'

We have a 16th Century Tudor tower built next to a former Manor House. (Not a castle, by the way.) But by the beginning of the 18th Century it seems there was no record of who built it, or its purpose. "Lord" Coleraine's explanation - that he kept it in repair because it was very old, makes good business sense. In the 18th Century follies were fashionable.

For the late 20th Century a posh theory was favoured: Falconry "a status symbol among the nobles of medieval Europe". Other less aristocratic possible explanations are not put forward.       _____________

§ Bruce Castle with Google Street View. § In summer 2006 Bruce Castle Museum worked with The Museum of London and and dozens of young volunteers to excavate close to the tower.

§ In 2007 the London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre (LAARC) posted photos of the dig and some of the objects found.