REGINALD’S TOWER – WATERFORD
Viking Treasures by Stumble Step
Did you ever try to climb stone steps in the dark and in a hurry, stumbling and stubbing your toes on uneven stair risers. In medieval defensive design, that was the plan. Making an enemy in armor running up stairs of your tower keep stumble and struggle, could allow precious moments to get to your safe room and bolt the heavy door, with a ladder to the top floor which could be knocked away. This is one of the evident features of Reginald’s Tower in Waterford, Ireland, one of the oldest civic buildings in continuous use. The round towers built by monks to escape the arrival of marauding Vikings can be found in ancient settlements around country. Reginald’s Tower, (actually from the Nordic name Ragnall) was built by the Vikings about 900 as the corner defense of their settlement on the southern port city, a triangle inside stone walls, now called the Viking Triangle.
There were six towers around the walls, but Reginald’s Tower is the largest and best preserved, through its continual use as a coinage mint, a prison, a military armory, and now a museum for 800 years. The first tower was built when the Vikings took Waterford in 914, but the current tower was rebuilt when the Normans came in the 12th Century (see Ross Tapestry) with Gothic stone arches. The top two floors of the structure were added in the late medieval 15th Century with the tower remaining a defensive bulwark until about 1700. The spiral staircase in the tower consists of fifty-six steps of different height and width, a design referred to as Stumble Steps, with the staircase spiral curving to the right to make it harder for right-handed attackers to swing their swords while climbing and staggering on the steps.
The tower stands just at the edge of the harbor and marks the beginning of the Viking quarter and is the landmark symbol of Waterford. It is part of the Waterford historic museums (see Waterford Treasures Museum) and features a permanent exhibition of the Viking Treasures of Waterford. The Viking display includes a model of Waterford as it was under the Vikings showing the city about 1050, at its height before the Noman conquest, a sword and weapons from a Viking grave from 914, and the beautiful gold and silver Waterford Kite Brooch, one of the finest examples of medieval metalwork in Ireland. There is also a game board and gaming pieces made from bone and dear antler from a medieval game with the name as difficult as it was to play, called “hnefatafl” very similar to chess, but with dice. Also on display on the top floor of the tower is a cannon ball which dates from the siege of the city by the parliamentarian army of Oliver Cromwell when the city was bombarded by cannons from ships in the harbor in 1650. The cannon ball on display is a twin to a ball still lodged in the exterior stone wall.
Visiting Reginald’s Tower
The tower is open daily from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm from mid-March through December, and 9:30 am to 5 pm Wednesday to Sunday in winter hours from January to early March. Last admission is 30 minutes before closing. Admission for Adults is €3, Seniors €2, Student and Child €1, with a Family ticket for €8. © Bargain Travel Europe
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Reginald's Tower
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