Worcester city walls
Worcester city walls | |
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City wall | |
Site history | |
Events | The Anarchy, First Barons' War, Second Barons' War, English Civil War |
Worcester's city walls are a sequence of defensive structures built around the city of
After the
During the English Civil War in the 1640s the old medieval walls were reinforced with modern earthwork bastions and an outlying fort, called a sconce. Worcester changed hands several times during the conflict, and after the war ended the newer fortifications were dismantled. During the 18th century the older medieval stone walls and gatehouses were sold and mostly destroyed: by the 20th century, few parts survived. Post-war archaeology in the 1950s and 1960s and construction work in the 1970s revealed previously hidden stretches of the wall, and in the 21st century plans have been drawn up to improve the conservation and maintenance of this historic monument.
History
1st–7th centuries
The first defensive walls at Worcester were built after the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43. Although a settlement existed on the site during the Iron Age, there is no evidence that walls were ever built around it.[1] The Roman town was probably preceded by the construction of a Roman fort, both located on the south side of the modern city and protected by the River Severn to the west.[2] There are relatively few historical details or archaeological evidence from this period, but archaeological investigations of the Roman town walls suggest that it had wooden ramparts and was protected by an 89-foot (27 m) wide ditch. As with other Roman towns, the walls would have enclosed a rectangular town, protecting a settlement with a grid-like network of streets.[3]
The
8th–11th centuries
During the
The creation of the burh walls is recorded in a charter witnessed by
During the 10th and 11th centuries Worcester spread north beyond the original burh walls, and south-east to form Sidbury.[14] In 1041 Worcester was attacked by the royal army of Harthacnut over a tax-dispute that had led to the death of two of the king's men; despite the defensive walls, the city was successfully taken and burnt.[15]
11th–16th centuries
In 1066
During
In the second half of the 12th century a new city wall began to be built around Worcester, with work probably continuing until early the next century.[21] Enclosing about 85 acres (34.4 hectares), its design tracked the flow of natural streams to the north and east, and made use of the castle in the south as part of the defences.[3] The walls were constructed of sandstone, and appear to have been surrounded by a flat bottomed, water-filled ditch, more than 30 feet (9 m) wide.[22] The new walls cut across existing parts of the city and would have required the demolition of numerous existing buildings that lay in their way; the new defences also cut off the outlying districts of Sidbury, Lowesmoore, Foregate Street and The Tything from the inside of the walled city.[16] Three main gates were built in the walls – North Gate, St Martin's Gate and Sidbury Gate – protected by gatehouses of paired circular towers and arrowslits for use by crossbowmen. Smaller gates were built between them, such as Friar's Gate.[23]
Civil war broke out again in England in 1215 between forces loyal to
One method of paying for the construction and maintenance of city walls was a tax called
17th–19th centuries
At the start of the 17th century, Worcester's city walls were still intact, and were recorded in John Speed's famous 1610 map of the city. In 1642 the English Civil War broke out between followers of King Charles I and Parliament. At that time the walls were in a state of disrepair and only part of the wall were defended by a ditch. There were seven gates: Foregate to the north, Saint Marin's and Friar's to the east, and Sidbury was the main southern gate—Frog Gate below Worcester Castle was also on the south side. On the western side (facing the Severn) there was Priory Gate overlooking the ferry and Bridge (or Water) Gate at the end of Newport Street that guarded the Severn bridge entrance to the city. The gates themselves were still opened in the morning and closed each evening, but they were rotten and in a bad state of repair ("so much so that they would hardly shut, and if they were actually closed there was neither lock or bolt to secure them").[29]
Worcester was occupied by Sir
In the first few months of the First English Civil War although Worcester changed hands three times, only one musket shot was fired, so until the start of the short unsuccessful siege of May 1643 the medieval walls were not subjected to bombardment by an early modern artillery train.[34]
The war was the first prolonged conflict in Britain to involve the use of artillery and gunpowder.
The Royalist commander Prince Maurice conscripted the adult men and women of Worcester to work on the walls, threatening the death penalty if they did not attend.[39] To form these new defences, the buildings outside the old city walls were cleared and six large bastions were attached to them along the north and east sides of the city, while a sconce, Fort Royal Hill was built outside Sidbury Gate in the south, linked to the walls by a walkway.[40] The ditch protecting the new earthworks was relatively shallow at about eight feet (2.4 m) deep, but when combined with the high ramparts of the bastions, which were probably protected by sharpened stakes and a banquette firing platform, the bastions would have been well defended.[41] During the short unsuccessfully siege 1643 and the long successful siege of 1646 the reinforced defences were able to withstand the artillery bombardments – the surrender in 1646 was mainly the result of a shortage of food and the collapse of the wider Royalist position across the south-west of England.[42]
Following
By the 18th century local residents had built summer houses on top of the walls, which were still largely intact.[45] During the next hundred years city and town walls across England began to be demolished to make way for new developments,[46] and Worcester proved no exception. By the end of the century the walls and gates were being sold off and destroyed; Friar's Gate was probably the last to be demolished, early in the 19th century.[45] Only a few tracts of wall survived, often concealed behind other buildings and new constructions.[45]
Conservation
The remains of Worcester's city walls were largely ignored until after the Second World War; limited archaeological excavations first began in 1957. Work continued in the 1960s and picked up pace in the 1970s, when the creation of the City Walls Road in Worcester uncovered more parts of the wall, formerly hidden from view.[47] The Civil War earthworks of Fort Royal Hill are still visible overlooking the city.[48]
As a result of their mixed history, the remains of the walls are owned by various different organisations and subject to different legal protection. Some parts of the walls are protected as Grade II listed buildings and scheduled monuments, although most of the walls lack this legal recognition.[49] The multiple ownership of the different parts of the city walls contributed to what English Heritage considered an "uncoordinated" approach to their conservation.[50] In response, a conservation plan has been created by Worcester City Council, proposing that the walls, despite their mixed ownership, should be managed as a single historic monument, and advising that some sections be repaired urgently; as of 2010 this plan was awaiting approval by English Heritage.[51]
See also
Notes
- ^ The medieval reconstructions of the city walls are by Worcester City Museums, based on archaeological and historical data available in 2000.
- ^ It is impossible to accurately compare 13th century and modern prices or incomes. For comparison, £100 represents approximately the typical average annual income for a baron of the period.[25]
References
- ^ a b Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, p.13, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, pp.12–13, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ a b Baker and Holt, p.147.
- ^ Baker and Holt, pp.146–147.
- ^ Barrow, p.128.
- ^ Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, pp.13–14, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ Baker, Dalwood, Holt, Mundy and Taylor, pp.72–73.
- ^ Baker, Dalwood, Holt, Mundy and Taylor, p.73; Creighton and Higham, p.60.
- ^ Hill and Rumble, pp.96–97.
- ^ Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, pp.14–15, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ Creighton and Higham, p.58; Russo, p.212.
- ^ Russo, p.212.
- ^ Creighton and Higham, p.58.
- ^ a b Baker, Dalwood, Holt, Mundy and Taylor, p.73.
- ^ The city of Worcester: Introduction and borough, A History of the County of Worcester: volume 4 (1924), pp. 376–390, Victoria County History, retrieved 3 October 2011.
- ^ a b Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, p.15, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ Bradbury, p.85.
- ^ Bradbury, p.156.
- ^ Bradbury, pp.156, 182.
- ^ Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, pp.15–16, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, pp.15–16, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011; Bradley and Gaimster, p.274; Youngs and Clark, p.208.
- ^ Baker and Holt, p.188; The city of Worcester: Introduction and borough, A History of the County of Worcester: volume 4 (1924), pp. 376–390, Victoria County History, retrieved 3 October 2011; Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, p.12, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ Baker and Holt, p.188; Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, p.16, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ a b c Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, pp.16–17, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ Pounds, p.147.
- ^ Creighton and Higham, pp.36–37.
- ^ a b Baker and Holt, p.188.
- ^ Creighton and Higham, p.173.
- ^ a b Willis-Bund, p.37.
- ^ Willis-Bund, pp.37–40.
- ^ Willis-Bund, pp.40–49.
- ^ Willis-Bund, pp.49–60.
- ^ Willis-Bund, pp.60–61.
- ^ Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, p.18, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011; Wedgwood, pp.115–116.
- ^ Harrington, p.4.
- ^ Harrington, p.4; Roy, p.256.
- ^ a b Bull, p.86.
- ^ Bull, p.86; Woolrych, p.237.
- ^ Harrington, p.44.
- ^ Harrington, p.28; Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, pp.17–18, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ Bull, pp.95–96.
- ^ Duffy, p.159.
- ^ Duffy, p.157; Woolrych, p.497.
- ^ Willis-Bund, p.245.
- ^ a b c d Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, p.18, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ Creighton and Higham, pp.236–237.
- ^ Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, p.11, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ Harrington, p.58.
- ^ Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, pp.39–39, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ Heritage At Risk Register 2010: West Midlands, English Heritage, p.72, retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ Worcester City Defences: Conservation Management Plan Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Oxford Archaeology, pp.37–38, January 2007, retrieved 25 September 2011; Heritage At Risk Register 2010: West Midlands, English Heritage, p.72, retrieved 1 October 2011.
Bibliography
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- 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.
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- Roy, Ian. (2000) "England Turned Germany? The Aftermath of the Civil War in its European Context," in Gaunt (ed) (2000).
- Russo, Daniel G. (1998) Town Origins and Development in Early England, c.400–950 A.D. Westport, US: Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-30079-0.
- Wedgwood, C. V. (1970) The King's War: 1641–1647. London: Fontana. OCLC 254381447.
- OCLC 5771128
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External links