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Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Herewycz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

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 Ipswich protested and the grant was revoked.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 (qv) 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)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TM261324

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 389670
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 3377 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Web site links
  • http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/ArchRev/rev97_8/essex.htm
• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p57, 222, 224, 264
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern) p32 [slight and repeats King as probably not built]
    Kent, Peter, 1988, Fortifications of East Anglia (Lavenham: Ternence Dalton)
    Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p92-116
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p148 [writes 'probably never built']
    Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works Vol4: 1485-1660 (part 2) p470-1
    Schofield, J., Pallisar, D. and Harding, 1981, Recent Archaeological research in English towns (CBA research report) p44-5
    Barley, M.W., 1975, 'Town Defences in England and Wales after 1066' in Barley (ed) Medieval Towns in England and Wales (CBA research reports) pp57-71
    Weaver, L.T., 1975, The Harwich Story
    Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p126
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p415
• Journal Articles
  • Trollope, C., 1983, ‘The defences of Harwich' Fort Vol11 p5-30
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1338-40) p88, 109; (1350-54) p316-7; (1377-1381) p162; (1446-1452) p479
    Calendar of Patent Rolls (1405-1408) p3 [Grant of land to build castle and crenellate it]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/essexeng.html#essex24]