In 1839, at the time of the Newport Rising, the gatehouse was garrisoned as the authorities feared a Chartist attack on Monmouth.[55] Later guidebooks suggest that the three loopholes visible on the tower were opened up at this time "for musketry in anticipation of the advance of the Chartists",[56] but Rowlands shows that the apertures are visible in illustrations of the gatehouse long before 1839.[57]