GATEHOUSE
The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
Home
The listings
Other Info
Books
Links
Downloads
Contact
 
Print Page 
 
Next Record 
Previous Record 
Back to list 

Harwich Town Defences

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Herewycz

In the civil parish of Harwich.
In the historic county of Essex.
Modern Authority of Essex.
1974 county of Essex.
Medieval County of Essex.

OS Map Grid Reference: TM261324
Latitude 51.94446° Longitude 1.28863°

Harwich Town Defences has been described as a certain Urban Defence.

There are no visible remains.

Description

In 1338 Edward III made a grant of murage on goods coming by land or water to Harwich or the port of Orwell to pay for the building of a town wall. Ipswich protested and the grant was revoked. A second grant was made in 1377-99, but again Ipswich protested. The walls were however built at some point in the second half of C14. A licence to crenellate was issued in 1352. The early post-medieval maps depict its approximate line. On the east and south-east side they appear to have been built of stone, probably septaria, with occasional wall turrets and a castle tower on the north-eastern corner. On the northern side, there was a palisade, which linked the large stone buildings fronting on to the quays, forming a barrier. To the west and south-west there was an earthen bank and ditch, cutting across marshy wasteland. The defences were pierced by a number of gates: the main Towngate was located on the south side on the main road to Colchester; then there was Castlegate at the north-east corner; St Austin's Gate at the end of St Austin's Lane; Barton's gate at the end of Market Street; and Eastgate on Eastgate Street which opened on to the quays. There were also large banks and ditches along the main road out of Harwich, although these may have been a later addition. The town walls were strengthened and the ditches re-dug between 1553 and 1558, first in response to the threatened revolt of the Duke of Northumberland and then because of continuing war with France. A big tower and bulwark called the Queen's Mount was erected at the south-eastern corner of the town. The Armada threat of 1588 led to the repair of the walls, construction of a palisade to defend the quays and a stone bulwark to defend the port, as well as the scouring of the harbour. (Essex HER)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1352 Aug 25 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
PastScape   County HER            
Maps >
Streetmap   NLS maps   Where's the path   Old-Maps      
Data/Maps > 
Magic   V. O. B.   Geology   LiDAR   Open Domesday  
Air Photos > 
Bing Maps   Google Maps   Getmapping   ZoomEarth      
Photos >
CastleFacts   Geograph   Flickr   Panoramio      

Sources of information, references and further reading
Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.
The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.
The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.
Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.
This record last updated 18/08/2017 07:59:48

Home | Books | Links | Fortifications and Castles | Other Information | Help | Downloads | Author Information | Contact
¤¤¤¤¤