This list of town walls in England and Wales describes the fortified walls built and maintained around these towns and cities from the 1st century AD onwards. The first town walls were built by the Romans, following their conquest of Britain in 43 AD. The Romans typically initially built walled forts, some of which were later converted into rectangular towns, protected by either wooden or stone walls and ditches. Many of these defences survived the fall of the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries, and were used in the unstable post-Roman period. The Anglo-Saxon kings undertook significant planned urban expansion in the 8th and 9th centuries, creating burhs, often protected with earth and wood ramparts. These burh walls sometimes utilised older Roman fortifications, and themselves frequently survived into the early medieval period.
The Norman invaders of the 11th century initially focused on building castles to control their new territories, rather than town walls to defend the urban centres, but by the 12th century many new town walls were built across England and Wales, typically in stone. Edward I conquered North Wales in the late 13th century and built a number of walled towns as part of a programme of English colonisation. By the late medieval period, town walls were increasingly less military in character and more closely associated with civic pride and urban governance: many grand gatehouses were built in the 14th and 15th centuries. The English Civil War in 1640s saw many town walls pressed back into service, with older medieval structures frequently reinforced with more modern earthwork bastions and sconces. By the 18th century, however, most town walls were falling into disrepair: typically they were sold off and demolished, or hidden behind newer buildings as towns and cities expanded.
In the 20th century there was a resurgence in historical and cultural interest in these defences. Those towns and cities that still had intact walls renovated them to form tourist attractions. Some of Edward I's town walls in North Wales were declared part of the internationally recognised UNESCOWorld Heritage Site. Urban redevelopment has frequently uncovered new remnants of the medieval walls, with archaeological work generating new insights into the Roman and Anglo-Saxon defences.
A small Norman wall was built around the town in the 11th century, linked to Abergavenny Castle. The Norman wall was demolished in the 12th century and a new stone wall was built in the late 13th century, approximately 350 by 215 metres (1,100 ft × 710 ft). This was destroyed by the modern period.
The walls were built in the 15th century to protect Alnwick against border instability and raiding, and commemorated the powerful local Percy family, who controlled the local castle.[1][2]
Bath's first walls were built by the Romans. The Anglo-Saxons established a fortified burh at Bath, utilising the existing walls, and they were further strengthened during the medieval period. Parts of one medieval gatehouse still survive.[3][4]
The town was captured by Owain Glyndŵr in 1400. Once recaptured by English forces, a stone wall with three gates was built around the town, and maintained until the late 17th century.[5][6]
The first walls built in the early 14th century under Edward I were 2 mi (3.2 km) long. Replaced in 1560 by a set of Italian-inspired walls with 5 large stone bastions, the walls are today the best-preserved post-medieval town defences in England.[7]
12th century Beverley was protected by a "great ditch" rather than a stone wall. In the early 15th century 3 brick gatehouses were built; more ditches and other fortifications were later added, but these failed to protect the town during the Civil War.[8][9]
Bridgnorth's town walls were initially constructed in timber between 1216 and 1223; murage grants allowed them to be upgraded to stone between the 13th and 15th centuries including 5 gates.
Constructed by Edward I at a cost of £3,500, alongside the castle, the walls are 2,408 ft (734 m) long and include eight towers and two gatehouses. Today they form part of the UNESCO world heritage site administered by Cadw.[15][16]
First built by the Romans in the 3rd century, retained by the Anglo-Saxons, the walls were rebuilt in the late 14th century owing to fears of a French invasion and feature early gunports. Over half of the original circuit, with 17 out of 24 towers, survives.[18]
First recorded in 1111, the walls were 1.28 mi (2.06 km) long and 10 ft (3.0 m) high with 5 town gates. Sections collapsed in the 18th century, many stones being reused as building material. The last large section was demolished in 1901. One of the town gates remains just west of the castle, the "West Gate".[19]
Chester's walls were originally built by the Romans between 70 and 80 AD and were used by the burh in 907. The Norman walls were extended to the west and the south to form a complete circuit, which now provides a walkway of about 2 mi (3.2 km).[23][24]
The walls were built between 65 and 80 AD after the destruction of the town by Boudicca, and they continued in use until after the Siege of Colchester in 1648. Two large stretches survive on the west and north sides and a number of fragments are visible along the rest of the circuit nearly 2 miles (3.2 kilometres). The Balkerne Gate is the most complete Roman gateway in the United Kingdom.[27]
Constructed between 1283 and 1287 after the foundation of Conwy by Edward I, the walls are 0.8 mi (1.3 km) long, with 21 towers and 3 gatehouses, and formed an integrated system of defence alongside Conwy Castle.[28][29]
With its walls nearly 2.2 mi (3.5 km) around and 12 ft (3.7 m) high, with 32 towers and 12 gatehouses, repaired during the 1640s, Coventry was described as being the best-defended city in England outside London.[30][31]
Medieval town walls, probably 14th century in date. No structures survive above ground. Tablets mark the sites of Snar Gate, Cow Gate, and Biggin Gate. During building clearance in 1962, foundations of the town wall were encountered along the south side of Townwall Street.[35][36]
Exeter's walls survive as a circuit approximately 2.35 km long, of which 72% (1,705m) is still visible, some parts up to 2.5m high. Originally built by the Romans in circa 200 AD, there were four gateways which were dismantled in the 18th and 19th centuries. The walls were repaired and rebuilt during the Anglo-Saxon, medieval and Civil War periods and the city was besieged at least twice. Several turrets and bastions in the wall are of uncertain date.[38]
One of Frome's most ancient structures, the Old Town Wall, runs along from Bath Street through into upper Saxonvale below Lidl, whilst the Old Slaughterhouse facade with its blocked in coach arches and mixture of dressed and rubble stone sections is architecturally of significance in assessing the surviving fabric of previous barton buildings.[39]
Foundations of 11th and 13th century East Gate visible through glass panels in Eastgate Street.[40] Another fragment of Roman wall is visible in the City Museum.[41]
Built of brick in the 14th century, with 4 main gates and up to 30 towers, the walls were maintained until the early 1700s. They were demolished during the building of the docks, beginning in the 1770s.[52]
Built by the Romans and maintained until the 18th century, nearly 3 mi (4.8 km) long, the wall defined the boundaries of the City of London with the Thames to the south. Short sections remain near the Tower of London and in the Barbican area.[57]
Built to defend this Welsh Marches market town, the walls remain in sections, as does the Broad Gate (shown in photo). The large Ludlow Castle is now a ruin but with substantial remains.[58]
Originally formed a circuit wall with four gatehouses, none of which survive. The fortified Monnow bridge still remains, the only surviving medieval bridge gate in the UK.[61]
Built during the 13th and 14th centuries the wall was about 2 mi (3.2 km) long, 6.5 ft (2.0 m) thick and 25 ft (7.6 m) high, with 6 main gates. The town was successfully defended twice; but during the Civil War the wall was breached using mines and artillery.[63]
A medieval town sitting atop a limestone peninsular linked to Pembroke Castle (1093). (Listed Ancient Monument).The walls are virtually intact on the north side along the River Pembroke together with the intact structure to the east that is Barnard's Tower (mini fortress). 75% of walls survive along the south side (The Commons) including a Lime-kiln, Gun Platform, two towers, the top of one surmounted by a Gazebo. All the walls are listed and many buildings on the wall and in the town are listed Ancient Monuments. The burgage plots within the town are divided by medieval stone walls and are of national importance.The mighty Pembroke Castle sits at the Western tip of the peninsular.The walk around the castle and town walls is some 1.5 miles.[67]
First constructed of earth and timber, probably in the late 14th century,[69] the walls were repeatedly repaired and rebuilt until the mid 18th century. They were largely removed in the 1870s and 80s.[69]
Begun in the 13th century after attacks by the Welsh, adding to the natural defences of the Severn, the walls were strengthened by the Royalists during the Civil War. A medieval watch tower and short sections remain, notably along the street named Town Walls.[74]
Built after French raids in 1338, the walls were 1.25 mi (2.01 km) long, with 29 towers and 8 gates. They were amongst the first in England to have new technology installed to existing fortifications, with new towers built specifically to house cannon.[76]
Earthwork defences first mentioned in 876 surround the town on the north, east and west sides; the south side is bounded by the River Frome. The West Walls were scarped against attack by tanks in 1940.[83]
First built by the Romans, the walls were extended by the Anglo-Saxons to create a walled burh. A longer circuit of stone walls was built in the late 12th century and further fortified during the Civil War.[87][88]
2.5 mi (4.0 km) long, enclosing an area of 263 acres,[89] the defences are the best preserved in England. On high ramparts, retaining all their main gateways,[90] the walls incorporate Roman, Norman and medieval work with modern renovations.[91]
^Mackenzie, p.440; Forster, pp.97-99; Creighton and Higham, pp.97, 270.
^Turner, p.99; Fortifications, A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 6: The borough and liberties of Beverley (1989), pp. 178-180, accessed 13 October 2011.
Baker, Nigel, Hal Dalwood, Richard Holt, Charles Mundy and Gary Taylor. (1992) "From Roman to medieval Worcester: development and planning in the Anglo-Saxon city," Antiquity Vol. 66, pp. 65–74.
Bradley, John and Märit Gaimster. (2004) (eds) "Medieval Britain and Ireland in 2003," Medieval Archaeology Vol. 48 pp. 229–350.
Clarke, Stephen and Jane Bray. (2003) "The Norman town defences of Abergavenny," Medieval Archaeology Vol. 27, pp. 186–189.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_in_Shrewsbury,_Shropshire.jpg)
