Abergavenny Town Walls (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Y Fenni

In the community of Abergavenny.
In the historic county of Monmouthshire.
Modern authority of Monmouthshire.
Preserved county of Gwent.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO29901415
Latitude 51.82140° Longitude -3.01544°

Abergavenny Town Walls has been described as a certain Urban Defence.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

Description

An oval circuit, roughly 350m by 215m, originally defined by stone walled defences springing from the castle (Nprn94876) to the south-eas: an incomplete line of defences, with some fabric, is preserved in modern wall lines and buildings: the walls are thought to have been redundant by mid.16th century. (Coflein)

The medieval town walls of Abergavenny are thought to have been constructed in the late 13th or early 14th centuries. There are walls standing along most of the course of the town wall on its western and northern sides. These are, however, generally of post-medieval date. There are small fragments of surviving medieval masonry, in a poor state of preservation, to the rear of the properties on the north side of Nevill Street. On the eastern side of the walls course there is little surviving evidence. There is, however, a fragment of medieval masonry at the foot of the rear wall of the market building as well as possible medieval masonry adjacent to the nearby stream. There is possible medieval masonry in, and to the rear of, Laburnum Cottage in Monk Street as well as a sizable portion to the rear of 23 and 24 Cross Street. (Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust HER)

Oval area on ridge, c.350m by 215m, castle at the point. Murage grants for the town are recorded in AD 1241-6 and AD 1259 - 64 as well as 1285 and 1314 -19. It is thought that the latter two grants refer to the line of the town wall that is clearly delineated in the modern property boundaries of the town.

Abergeveney yt self is a faire waulled town, meately welle inhabited havyng ... paroch chirch. (Leland)

Sources of information, references and further reading

The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s) for this site is/are 306259.
The County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) for this site is/are 01757g.

Books
- Salter, Mike, 2013, Medieval Walled Towns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 158
  Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p. 27, 95, 158, 273
  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 view online copy (plan)
  Soulsby, Ian, 1983, The Towns of Medieval Wales (Phillimore; Chichester) p. 64-7 (plan)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 290
  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 view online copy
  Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p. 201
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) p. 245-6
  Bradney, J.A., 1904-33, History of Monmouthshire (London) Vol. 1 p. 152-3
Periodical Articles
- Clarke, S. and Bray, J., 2003, 'The Norman town defences of Abergavenny' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 27 p. 19-36 view online copy
  Clarke, S.H., 2001, 'The Norman Defences of Abergavenny: A Watching Brief at Cross Street' Archaeology in Wales Vol. 41
  1999, 'Abergavenny Town Wall' Monmouth Archaeology
  Ashmore, P.J. and Ashmore, F.M., 1972-3, 'Excavations at Abergavenny Orchard site, 1972' Monmouthshire Antiquarian Vol. 3 (2) p. 104-110
  Radcliffe, F. and Knight, J., 1972-3 'Excavations at Abergavenny, 1962-1969, II: medieval and later' Monmouthshire Antiquarian Vol. 3 (2) p. 65-103 esp. 77-9
  Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 116 p. 71-132
  1965, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 9 p. 198 download copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- William Camden, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1906, Leland's Itinerary in Wales (Bell and Sons; London) p. 45 view online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- GGAT, 1989 Mar, The Town Walls Of Abergavenny: A Survey (GGAT SMR Report Archive)

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