1. SUDBURY TOWER
6 Pound Lane, Canterbury CT2

No Website private residence

The sequence of defensive walls was built around Canterbury in Kent, England. The first city walls were built by the Romans, probably between 270 and 280 AD. Over the centuries, these walls were maintained, left to ruin, and rebuilt. In the 15th-16th centuries, defensive towers were built around the city walls, the Sudbury Tower being one of them. Archaeological and historical evidence suggests that there were 24 of these. The towers had a generally uniform appearance, with 16 half-circular, or "horseshoe", hollow-backed towers and eight square towers. One was the Sudbury Tower, named after Archbishop Simon Sudbury, who was murdered during the peasants' revolt of 1381 after he introduced a 3rd poll tax. Outraged by a corrupt church, a failing war with France, and the hardship of special taxes, England's peasants revolted, found Sudbury at the Tower of London whilst he was in prayer, took him down Tower Hill and beheaded him.
Sudbury Tower, a significant part of Canterbury's history, was due to be sold by the Council at the Auction on 1st November 2023 by Clive Emerson. This decision was met with strong opposition from the local community. The Canterbury Historical and Archaeological Society, which has been instrumental in preserving the tower, says the tower was gifted to citizens in April 1911 to help preserve the asset. The Council, however, responded that since the 1972 Local Government Act reformed the Council, it is not technically the same body that inherited the site—with bosses confirming its position to sell had been legally verified.
Stewart Ross, chairman of the Canterbury Commemoration Society, likened the potential deal to "selling off the family silver for a bit of short-term gain. It's part of our heritage; it's been here since the Middle Ages, and it commemorates a bishop who had his head chopped off, so it's pretty special,"  
The sale was delayed as the Council, under pressure from the local community and critics, scrambled to settle the issue and check the legality of the sale. Despite these efforts, the Council didn't budge, and it was sold to a private owner in December 2023. Following a two-day process, the structure has now transferred into private ownership after more than 100 years.
Mr Ross admitted he, along with many others, would love to work with the purchaser in the future. He said, "If there's any way it could be opened to the public in time, that would be very welcome."
**HAUNTINGS**
In the Sudbury Tower, a solitary figure haunted the tower bedroom, reportedly tucking the occupant in at night! Some believe the figure to be Archbishop Simon Sudbury, although I doubt he would be tucking people in at night! In the 1920s, the tower resident reported that Simon of Sudbury had visited him. One night after he had retired, he suddenly heard three knocks on the door; although he had bolted the door, it opened of its own accord, and a man entered. The resident stated the man seemed friendly and very lifelike, with a square-cut beard and wearing period clothes. The ghost is said to have bowed to him 3 times, then just disappeared into thin air. 

2. WESTGATE TOWER
1 Pound Lane, Canterbury CT1

The Westgate Tower, the largest and arguably the most magnificent of the country's surviving medieval gateways, stands as a testament to Canterbury's rich history.
Constructed during the Hundred Years' War in 1381, the Westgate Tower was not just a defensive structure but also a symbol of Canterbury's wealth and the Archbishop's importance. Its architecture, with a height of 60 feet, a drawbridge across the River Stour, and impressive walls, was a testament to the City's prosperity and the power of the church. Over the years, it has evolved into the standalone structure it is today, still retaining its historical significance. 
In the political upheavals of the 16th and 17th centuries, several "political prisoners" were held in the Westgate. These included John Stone, a member of the Whitefriars, who refused to swear the Oath of Supremacy to King Henry VIII and was executed in 1539. Between 1555 and 1558, several of the "Protestant Martyrs" imprisoned under Queen Mary were held in the prison before being burnt. One of Westgate's best-known prisoners was Robert Cushman (1578-1625), a Canterbury grocer of Puritan beliefs, who was arrested in 1603 for printing anti-church literature against the Cathedral authorities. Refusing to apologize at a church court, he was imprisoned for a week in the turrets of the Westgate. After this experience, he and his friends made plans to leave the country. It was Cushman who, in 1620, hired the "Mayflower ship" to take the "Pilgrim Fathers" to America, his son Thomas later becoming Ruling Elder of Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts.
From the archives of the Kentish Post, a few lines were written by three Westgate jail inmates in 1726, known as William Smith, James Leak, and Robert Elson. It is unknown what crime they had committed. Still, they were condemned to be hung. They got a reprieve when King George I visited the City that week and agreed to answer a petition, commuting their sentences to transportation to America for 14 years. They composed a few lines while waiting for their transport to arrive at Gravesend for the journey. They sent them via letter to the editor of the paper. You can see what they wrote on the website history page.
Another notable prisoner was John Nichols Thom (1799-1838). He was an eccentric Cornishman who arrived in Canterbury in 1832 and claimed to be "Sir William Percy Honeywood Courtenay, Knight of Malta". But instead of being elected to Parliament as he hoped, he was imprisoned in the Westgate Gaol on a perjury charge. He spent time in prison writing the fifth edition of his rabble-rousing pamphlet The Lion. You can read more on the website history page. After leading a few followers around the Kentish countryside, he shot and killed a local constable and was later killed following a stand-off with the local militia in the woods at Boughton, near Faversham.
The Westgate Tower has seen many escape attempts and attacks on the Gaolers. One prisoner managed to procure a saw and cut through the wooden boards around his cell. Another used his blankets to lower himself down to the street. A particularly daring escape in 1868 involved jumping from the battlements into a passing hay cart, but not all were successful. These stories of daring and desperation add a human element to the tower's history, making it more than just a structure of stone and mortar. Read about others on the website history page
As time passed and the military threat lessened, 1 Pound Lane was built in 1829 as an extension to the city jail and to provide a home for the jailer and his family.
Prison reform came late to Canterbury, but the new prison building at One Pound Lane had some of the earliest flushing toilets in the country, and these still survive. Each cell was supplied with a toilet behind its door. However, the flushing valves were all outside the corridor, meaning the jailer or his two assistants could only flush the toilets. The communal water tanks supplied from the nearby river fed all the pipes. One of the prison day rooms had a pump installed so that a task for the prisoners would be to pump the water up from the ground floor into the above tanks. A proper "washroom" was another addition to the new prison building. 
It subsequently became the Canterbury city police station in 1870 after the city jail had moved. 
Another "first" for One Pound Lane was being one of the very first Canterbury buildings to be supplied with electricity when it was used as the Police Station in the 1890s; the electric "pillar" from which the power was obtained can still be seen outside.
In 1907, the building was further extended to provide a parade room and additional police cells. When the police moved out, the building became home to Kent Music School. The former cells were used as practice and storage rooms, and the upstairs Parade Room was used as a concert hall. 
The Westgate Tower was brought back into active service in both World Wars, playing a key role in the City's air defences. Its strategic location and sturdy structure made it an ideal spot for spotting and defending against enemy aircraft. This role in the City's defence during times of war further solidifies the tower's place in Canterbury's history. 
The concert hall eventually closed, and after a brief period as an archive, at the start of the 20th century, the Westgate became a museum. Several dedicated private investors undertook to bring the museum up to date, fashioning a spectacular window into the history of the City and nation. 
The Exhibits cover four themes: city Defences and Wars, Crime and punishment, Towers Through History, and the Magna Carta Maquettes. 
Today, it is a  Museum with a viewpoint that has been open since 2014 and is available to hire for events. There is also a Restaurant within the former city jail and police station, which opened as a cafe in 2011. Another new attraction within the original felons' cells and former WWII communications post is now an Escape Room experience. 
**HAUNTINGS**
A passerby saw a ghostly figure at ground level, crossing by the old iron bridge. Could this be the spirit of one of the condemned men, as this route was taken in the 1880s to the condemned cell in the Westgate Tower?
There is a paranormal story of the building. One day, a council worker was leaving work when he found he'd been locked in the room. He felt the atmosphere grow cold and heard a creepy noise of what sounded like several people dragging a body down the stairs on the right-hand side of the tower. The sound went past the room where the witness was locked in and down into the stairwell. He tried the door again and found it to be unlocked, and he made his escape quickly. Since then, the council has stated that no one has spent time alone there after dark, and no one is to work alone there anymore.