Salisbury City Defences (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Novae Sarum

In the civil parish of Salisbury.
In the historic county of Wiltshire.
Modern Authority of Wiltshire.
1974 county of Wiltshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SU14763038
Latitude 51.0713° Longitude -1.7959°

Salisbury City Defences has been described as a certain Urban Defence.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Scant traces of C13 Earthen defences of 'new' city of Salisbury. Turner says probably only a boundary ditch until late C14. Licence to crenellate granted 1328, 1372 and ratified in 1377, may have resulted in bank and palisade. Grant of timber to town in 1378. Ditch and fences broken down by evil doers in 1381. Salisbury's town defences comprised an Earthen rampart and ditch. The ditch was dug in 1310 and all the defences completed about 1388. The rampart extended from St Martin's Church to St Ann Street, along Rampart Road to Winchester Street, across the Greencroft to St Edmunds College and on to the River Avon at Castle Street. Entrances through the defences were present in Castle Street, Winchester Street and St Ann's Street, these were demolished in 1771 and 1784 (PastScape).

May 30. 1378. Grant to the mayor and commonalty of the city of New Sarum, on their petition to the king and Council for help to complete the trench round their city and wooden fence, of the profit of sealing cloth in that city for a year, and twenty oaks from the park of Claryndou or the forest of Bukholt or Grovele, wherever the justice of the forest shall deem least damage will arise by the same. (CPR (1377-1381) p. 229)

March 20. 1381. Commission to Robert Bealknap, Thomas Hungerford, John de la Mare, Thomas Dru, Nicholas Bonham and John Upton, to enquire touching a complaint by the mayor and commonalty of Salisbury, co. Wilts, that certain evildoers came to the city by night, set guards at divers places and entrances, so that they could not go out, broke a great portion of a trench that they had begun to make for the protection of the city, and assaulted them. (CPR (1377-1381) p. 631)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1227 Jan 30 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).
A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1328 April 12.
A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1372 Nov 26.
A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1377 July 20.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument number 1004714, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number wi736
English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 218479.
County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) SU13SW489.

Books
- Salter, Mike, 2013, Medieval Walled Towns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 126-7
  Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p. 18, 24, 37, 80-1, 90, 105, 129, 207, 218, 237, 256
  Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p. 167, 168
  Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report 61) p. 92-116 online copy
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 503
  RCHME, 1980, 'City defences' in Ancient and Historical Monuments in the City of Salisbury Vol. 1 (HMSO) p. 50-51
  Barley, M.W., 1975, 'Town Defences in England and Wales after 1066' in Barley (ed) The plans and topography of medieval towns in England and Wales (CBA Research Report 14) p. 57-71 plan p. 66 download/view online
  Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p. 198-9
  Rogers, J.H., 1969, 'Salisbury' in Lobel, M.D. (ed), Historic Towns: Maps and Plans of Towns and Cities in the British Isles, with Historical Commentaries, from Earliest Times to 1800 Vol. 1 (London: Lovell Johns-Cook, Hammond and Kell Organization) p. 1-9
  Crittal, Eliz. (ed), 1962, 'Salisbury: Bridges, bars, gates and mills' VCH Wiltshire Vol. 6 p. 87-90 online transcription
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 328, 417 online copy
Periodical Articles
- 1961, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 5 p. 325-6 download copy
  Stevens, F., 1947, 'Brief introduction to the history of Salisbury and to the city rampart' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 104 p. x online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Jones, W. Rich (ed), 1891, Charters and Documents Illustrating the History of the Cathedral, City, and Diocese of Salisbury in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries (Rolls Series 5 – Reprint, Kraus Reprint Ltd., 1965) p. 97 (City Charter)
  Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1912, Calendar of Charter Rolls Edward III 1327-1341 Vol. 4. (HMSO) p. 82 (licence to crenellate)
  Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1891-1916, Calendar of Patent Rolls (1370-74) p. 220; (1377-81) p. 9, 10 (licence to crenellate); (1377-1381) p. 229 (grant of timber and profits from wool sales for a year); (1377-1381) p. 631 (commission to investigate breaking of defences) online copies via
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Speed, John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain online copy
  Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
  Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p. 492-3, 498
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1907, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 1 p. 259 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Cave-Penney, Helena, 2004, The Archaeology of Wiltshire's Towns An Extensive Urban Survey Salisbury (Wiltshire County Archaeology Service) online copy

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