Hereford City Wall

In the civil parish of Hereford. In the historic county of Herefordshire (Modern Authority of Herefordshire, 1974 county of Hereford and Worcester).

About the mid C9 the main part of the town was enclosed with a bank and ditch. The defences were completely rebuilt in earth and timber towards the end of the century and extended. The earth and timber defences were later rebuilt in stone, probably between 901-40. Following the Norman Conquest a new town with a vast market place was laid out to the north of the Saxon burh, but it was not until 1189 that the town was granted its first charter and empowered to fortify the town. The new defensive works included a substantial extension to the north. Originally six gates, sixteen round towers. Remains fragmentary, but including two large towers. Murage grants almost continuous from 1224 until late C15.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SO512395

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 110198
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 30174 and others '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.herefordwebpages.co.uk/normans.shtml
    http://www.archaeologists.tv/content/view/12/57/
• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p24, 39-40, 43, 45-6, 56, 59, 65, 90, 101, 129, 159, 179, 187, 199, 265, 278
    Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern) p39
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p98
    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 p214-5
    Shoesmith, Ron, 1982, Hereford City Excavations - Vol2: Excavations on and close to the Defences (CBA Research Report 46) [downloadable at http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/library/cba/rr46.cfm]
    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 plan p63
    Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p205-7
    Lobel, M.D., 1969, 'Hereford' 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' Vol1 (London: Lovell Johns-Cook, Hammond and Kell Organization) p1-11
    1969, Archaeological Excavation 1968 (HMSO) p22-3
    RCHME, 1931, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire. Vol1: south-west p119, 126-7
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) p242
    Chalkley Gould, 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Hereford Vol1 p260
• Journal Articles
  • [Shoesmith], 1976, Medieval Archaeology Vol20 p162 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    [Shoesmith], 1974, Medieval Archaeology Vol18 p178 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    [Shoesmith], 1973, Medieval Archaeology Vol17 p143-4 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Shoesmith, Ron, 1972, 'Hereford' Current Archaeology Vol33 p256-8
    Shoesmith, Ron, 1971, 'Hereford City Excavations, 1970' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalist Field Club Vol40.2 p225-40
    Noble, Shoesmith and other, 1967, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalist Field Club Vol39.1 p44-67
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    1967, Medieval Archaeology Vol11 p292 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Stanford, S.C., 1966, 'Excavations in Bath Street, Hereford, 1966' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club Vol38.3 204-10
    Hurst, D.G. (ed), 1966, 'Medieval Britain in 1965: II Post-conquest' Medieval Archaeology Vol10 p198-9 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Heys, F.G. and Norwood, J.F.L., 1958, 'Excavations on the supposed line of the King's Ditch Hereford 1958' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club p117-25
    Marshall, 1940, 'The Defences of the City of Hereford' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field ClubVol36 p117-25 [excavation report]
    Fox, C., 1931, 'Offa's Dyke: A field survey. Sixth Report' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol86 p21
    Watkins, A., 1927, Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol82 p446-51
    Watkins, A., 1920, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club p249-58
    Watkins, A., 1919, 'Hereford City Walls' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club p159-63
    1900, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club p36-7
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Plummer, C. (ed), 1892, Two Saxon Chronicles Vol1 p186 [refortification by Harold in 1055]
    Pipe Roll, 2 Richard I, 49 [money to build gates]
    Rot. Litt. Claus., I, 263 [grant of timber]
    CPR (1216-1225) p473; (1225-1232) p228; p343; (1232-47) p6; p114; p224; (1247-1258) p118; p491; (1258-1266) p178; p409; p402; (1266-1272) p584; (1272-1281) p417; (1292-1301) p353; (1301-1307) p340; (1313-1317) p176; (1321-1324) p42; p394; (1330-1334) p562; (1338-1340) p126; (1340-1343) p199; (1350-1354) p40; (1358-1361) p342; (1367-1370) p257; (1377-1381) p366; (1381-1385) p328; (1391-1396) p204; (1399-1401) p161; (1399-1401) p423; (1405-1408) p159; (1408-1413) p278; (1416-1422) p133; (1416-1422) p235; (1422-1429) p336; p543; (1429-1436) p226; p499; (1436-1441) p477; (1441-1446) p390; Pat. 2 Hen. VIII. p. 1, m. 21 [murage grants]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/hertseng.html#herts7]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p215, 218-20
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol2 p65-6 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl02lelauoft