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 UNESCO World 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.
Contents |
Place | County | Date built | Condition | Image | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abergavenny | Gwent | Masonry fragments | 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 m by 215 m. This was destroyed by the modern period.[1] | ||
Alnwick | Northumberland | Two gatehouses survive | 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.[2][3] | ||
Bath | Somerset | Fragmentary remains | Bath's first walls were built by the Romans. The Anglo-Saxons constructed a fortified burh at Bath, utilising the existing city walls, and stone walls were built during the medieval period. Parts of one medieval gatehouse still survive.[4][5] | ||
Beaumaris | Gwynedd | Vestiges | The walls were constructed after the capture of the town 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.[6][7] | ||
Berwick-on-Tweed | Northumberland | Substantial remains | The first walls were built in the early 14th century under Edward I, stretching 2 mi (3.2 km) in length. In 1560 they were replaced by a set of Italian-inspired walls with 5 large stone bastions. Today the walls are the best-preserved post-medieval town defences in England.[8] | ||
Beverley | East Riding of Yorkshire | One gatehouse survives | By the 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 were insufficient to protect the town during the Civil War.[9][10] | ||
Brecon | Powys | Vestiges | Originally constructed by Humphrey de Bohun after 1240, the walls were built of stone, with 4 gatehouses and 10 semi-circular bastions. They were largely destroyed during the Civil War.[11][12] | ||
Bridgnorth | Shropshire | Vestiges | 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.[13] | ||
Bristol | Bristol | Fragmentary remains | [14] | ||
Caerleon | Gwent | Vestiges | [15] | ||
Caernarfon | Gwynedd | 1283–92 | Largely intact | 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.[16][17] | |
Caerwent | Gwent | Substantial remains | [18] | ||
Canterbury | Kent | Substantial remains | [19] | ||
Cardiff town walls | Glamorgan | Vestiges | [20] | ||
Carlisle | Cumbria | Substantial remains | [21] | ||
Castle Acre | Norfolk | Fragmentary remains | [22] | ||
Chepstow | Gwent | Substantial remains | [23] | ||
Chester | Cheshire | 70 AD–12th century | Largely intact | 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).[24][25] | |
Chichester | West Sussex | Substantial remains | [26] | ||
Cirencester | Gloucestershire | Vestiges | [27] | ||
Colchester | Essex | Substantial remains | [28] | ||
Conwy | Clwyd | Largely intact | 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. [29][30] | ||
Coventry | West Midlands | 1350s–1534 | Fragmentary remains | 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.[31][32] | |
Cowbridge | Glamorgan | Substantial remains | [33] | ||
Cricklade | Wiltshire | Fragmentary remains | [34] | ||
Denbigh | Clwyd | Substantial remains | [35] | ||
Durham | County Durham | Fragmentary remains | [36] | ||
Exeter | Devon | Substantial remains | [37] | ||
Gloucester | Gloucestershire | Vestiges | [38] | ||
Great Yarmouth | Norfolk | Substantial remains | [39] | ||
Hartlepool | County Durham | Substantial remains | [40] | ||
Hastings | East Sussex | Vestiges | [41] | ||
Haverfordwest | Pembrokeshire | Vestiges | [42] | ||
Hay-on-Wye | Powys | Vestiges | [43] | ||
Hereford | Herefordshire | Fragmentary remains | [44] | ||
Ilchester | Somerset | Vestiges | [45] | ||
Kidwelly | Carmathenshire | Substantial remains | [46] | ||
Kings Lynn | Norfolk | Fragmentary remains | [47] | ||
Kingston upon Hull | East Riding of Yorkshire | Vestiges | [48] | ||
Langport | Somerset | Fragmentary remains | [49] | ||
Launceston | Cornwall | Substantial remains | [50] | ||
Lewes | East Sussex | Vestiges | [51] | ||
Lincoln | Lincolnshire | Fragmentary remains | [52] | ||
London | London | Fragmentary remains | First built by the Romans and maintained until the 18th century, the wall was once nearly 3 mi (4.8 km) long and, with the Thames to the south, defined the boundaries of the City of London. Short sections remain, notably near the Tower of London and in the Barbican area.[53] | ||
Ludlow | Shropshire | 1233–1317 | Fragmentary remains | 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.[54] | |
Malmesbury | Wiltshire | Vestiges | [55] | ||
Monmouth | Gwent | Fragmentary remains | [56] | ||
Newark on Trent | Nottinghamshire | Vestiges | [57] | ||
Newcastle-upon-Tyne | Tyne and Wear | Substantial remains | Built during the 13th and 14th centuries, the wall was about 2 mi (3.2 km) long, at least 6.5 ft (2.0 m) thick and up to 25 ft (7.6 m) high, with 6 main gates. The town was successfully defended at least twice; but during the Civil War the wall was breached using mines and artillery.[58] | ||
Norwich | Norfolk | Fragmentary remains | |||
Nottingham | Nottinghamshire | Vestiges | [59] | ||
Oxford | Oxfordshire | Fragmentary remains | [60] | ||
Pembroke | Pembrokeshire | Fragmentary remains | [61] | ||
Poole | Dorset | Vestiges | [62] | ||
Portsmouth | Hampshire | 14th–18th century | Fragmentary remains | The original walls were probably constructed in the late 14th century of earth and timber.[63] They were repeatedly rebuilt, repaired and reconstructed until about the middle of the 18th century, after which they drifted into obsolescence before largely being removed in the 1870s and 80s.[63] | |
Richmond | North Yorkshire | Fragmentary remains | [64] | ||
Rochester | Kent | Fragmentary remains | [65] | ||
Rye | East Sussex | Substantial remains | [66] | ||
Sandwich | Kent | Fragmentary remains | [67] | ||
Shrewsbury | Shropshire | 13th–14th century | Fragmentary remains | Begun in the 13th century following attacks by the Welsh, adding to the natural defences of the River Severn, the walls were strengthened by the Royalists during the Civil War. One tower and short sections of wall remain, most notably along the street named Town Walls.[68] | |
Silchester | Hampshire | 3rd century | Substantial remains | The Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum was abandoned around the 5th or 6th century. Much of the walls survive, the area within them largely farmland. [69] | |
Southampton | Hampshire | Half the medieval circuit survives | 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.[70] | ||
Stafford | Staffordshire | Vestiges | |||
Stamford | Lincolnshire | Fragmentary remains | [71] | ||
Swansea | Glamorgan | Vestiges | [72] | ||
Tenby | Pembrokeshire | Substantial remains | [73] | ||
Totnes | Devon | Fragmentary remains | [74] | ||
Verulamium | Hertfordshire | 2nd-3rd century | Fragmentary remains | The site of the Roman town of Verulamium was abandoned when the later settlement of St. Albans was established nearby.[75] | |
Warkworth | Northumberland | Fragmentary remains | [76] | ||
Warwick | Warwickshire | Fragmentary remains | [77] | ||
Winchelsea | East Sussex | Substantial remains | [78] | ||
Winchester | Hampshire | Substantial remains | [79] | ||
Worcester | Worcestershire | Vestiges | First built by the Romans in the 1st century AD, 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.[80][81] | ||
York | North Yorkshire | 3rd–14th century | Largely intact | 2.5 mi (4.0 km) long and enclosing an area of 263 acres,[82] the defences are the most complete in England. Set on high ramparts and retaining all their principal gateways,[83] the walls incorporate Roman as well as Norman and medieval work, with some modern renovations.[84] |