Newport Tower (Rhode Island)
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The Newport Tower is a round stone tower located in Touro Park in Newport, Rhode Island. A mysterious anachronism, the tower has long been the subject of much controversial speculation about its origin. The accepted explanation is that it was a mill built in the mid 17th Century. Some historians, as well as amateur researchers, have claimed that it is several centuries older, and may be evidence of early Norse settlement in New England.
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Description
The tower is located on Mill Street surrounded by a historical residential neighborhood on the hill above the waterfront tourist district. Often little noticed by passing tourists, it is not marked by a sign or historical plaque of any kind. The hill itself once furnished a view of the harbor and would have been visible to passing mariners in Narragansett Bay, but recent tree growth now obscures the view of the harbor from the top of the tower.
The tower itself is seemingly Medieval in appearance. It has a height of 28 feet and an exterior width of 24 feet. It is supported by eight cylindrical columns that form stone arches, two of which are slightly broader than the other six. None of the arches is supported by a keystone. Above the arches and inside the tower is a floor that supports an interior chamber. The walls being approximately 3 feet thick, the diameter of the inner chamber is approximately 18 feet.
The chamber is penetrated by a window. Directly opposite the window is a fireplace backed with grey stone and flanked by nooks. The direction of the window is WSW across Narragansett Bay towards Pettaquamscutt Rock on the west side of the bay [1] (http://www.hum.gu.se/arkiv/ONN/1998onn/III/msg00298.html).
The Arnoldist theory
The prevailing explanation among historians for the origin of the structure is the "Arnoldist" explanation, namely that the tower was a mill constructed "from the ground up" in the middle or late 17th century by Rhode Island colony governor Benedict Arnold (not to be confused with the later patriot-traitor General Benedict Arnold, his grandson). It is known that Arnold once owned the land on which the tower stands and who moved into the area in 1661.
A 1675 account of King Philip's War by M. Church stated that an Indian advised a captain to lead his men out of danger "to the windmill on Rhode Island." Two years later, in 1677 Arnold mentions the structure in his will as "my stone build Wind Mill."
During the American Revolution, the tower was known to have been used by the Americans as a lookout, and by British to store munitions.
The mill theory is supported by its similarity in appearance to a 17th century mill designed by Inigo Jones in Leamington, England.
In the 1940s, archaeological digs in the vicinity of the tower produced artificacts dating from the colonial period. In 1990, radiocarbon dating tests of the tower's mortar supported a construction date between 1635 and 1698.
Alternative Explanations
The tower has been the subject of much speculation concerning its true origin, some of which falls within established scholarship and some of which is more speculative.
The controversy is fueled somewhat by legitimate open questions about the design features of the tower, in particular the presence and location of the fireplace and window which would lend support to the idea that the tower was designed as a signaling beacon rather than as a mill.
Supporters of the alternate explanations generally cite the following in support of their cause:
- The archaeological excavations are inconclusive and prove only that the tower was used in the 17th century and not necessarily constructed at that time.
- The radiocarbon dating is inconclusive because the mortar could have been added at a date much later than the tower's construction
- The tower possibly appears on a map by Giovanni da Verrazano made during his voyage to North America in 1524.
- The area of New England in the vicinity of the tower contains numerous controversial archaeological sites which could support the theory of Pre-Columbian visitation to the area by Europeans.
Early Norse theory
The most popular alternate explanation for the existence of the tower, and the only that has been seriously entertained by professional archaeologists, is that it was built by Viking explorers in the 10th or 11th centuries. This hypothesis is predicated on the uncertainty of the southward extent of the early Norse explorations of North America, particularly in regard to the actual location of Vinland.
The theory for a Norse origin of the tower was first proposed in 1837 by Danish archaeologist Carl Christian Rafn in his book Antiquitates Americanæ, which was partly based on his research of the inscriptions on the Dighton Rock near the mouth of the Taunton River. Rafn's popularization of the theory led to a flurry of interest and "proofs" of Norse settlement in the area [2] (http://www.neara.org/CARLSON/newporttower.htm).
The Norse theory was also advocated by Phillip Answorth Means, an archaeologist with a speciality in Latin America, in his exhaustive 1942 book The Newport Tower. Means attempted to compile all known evidence surrounding the tower to date and dismissed the theory that Arnold built the tower "from the ground up."
The city of Newport finally gave permission for a scientific investigation of the site by the Society for American Archaeology in 1948. The investigation was directed by Hugh Henken of Harvard University, with the field work headed by William S. Godfrey. As part of the investigation, a one-metre wide trench was dug from the tower's exterior through the interior. The result, published in Godfrey's 1951 Ph.D. dissertation, concluded that all the artifacts discovered were from the 17th century, thus supporting the Arnoldist camp.
To date, no hard evidence supporting the Norse explanation has been found.
Other Theories
- During the early 20th century, Edmund Delebarre's investigations of the Dighton rock led him to propose that the tower was constructed as a signaling beacon by Portuguese navigator Miguel Cortereal who Delebarre claims was shipwrecked in 1501 or 1502 while searching for his lost brother Gaspar in Narragansett Bay.
- Another speculative theory holds that it was constructed by the Scottish earl Henry Sinclair who is believed by some to have visited Nova Scotia and New England in the year 1398 with a fleet under the command of Antonio Zeno. Believers in this theory often cite the Westford Knight as further evidence. See: Theory that Henry Sinclair explored North America
- Gavin Menzies argues that the tower was built by the Chinese navigator Zheng He in 1421. See: 1421 theory
External links
- About Newport (http://www.aboutnewport.com/Newport/NewportTower/NewportTower.htm)
- Redwood Library site on Newport Tower (http://www.redwood1747.org/tower/millmenu.htm)
- Design features of the tower (http://www.hum.gu.se/arkiv/ONN/1998onn/III/msg00298.html)
- New England Antiquities Research Association (http://www.neara.org/CARLSON/newporttower.htm) - Loose Threads in a Tapestry of Stone: The Architecture of Newport Tower