The Beauvais bell tower is a monument located very close to the south portal of Saint-Pierre cathedral. Although it has completely disappeared, it is still well known from scholarly literature or iconography, and above all now through a reconstruction of the first foundations in situ. For a long time it has been referred to in a picturesque way as the «Praetorium Tower» to emphasise its age. Excavations carried out in 2005 had the dual aim of locating traces of this tower and clarifying the chronology of its construction, in order to remedy its disappearance from the urban landscape as part of a project to redevelop and enhance the cathedral quarter. While the excavations provide a chronological range for its construction and architectural data on its foundations, they provide very little information on its function(s) and no indication of its elevation. Recent historical research has shed light on the building’s various functions and places this emblematic former Beauvais building in its historical and religious context within the cathedral chapter, as well as in its architectural environment at the heart of the episcopal quarter.