Leicester Town Wall

In the civil parish of Leicester. In the historic county of Leicestershire (Modern Authority of Leicester; City of, 1974 county of Leicestershire).

No remains of medieval town wall based on and extended from Roman wall. Said to be raised in 1174. Murage grants in 1286, 1293 and 1316. Walls were ruinous by 1587 and are now entirely buried. The walls were built with some reused Roman masonry.
'Detailed accounts, as well as leases of gates and towers, suggest that building work was far more extensive than the [three] murage grants suggest.' (Turner) This leaves the question of how the walls were funded.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SK585040

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 867059; 867061; 867062; 867060; 867063
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record. In particular '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, or elsewhere.

• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p23, 45, 59-60, 68-70, 107, 109, 142-3, 179, 216, 231, 236, 246, 266, 278
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p41 [mention]
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p140
    Buckley. R. and Lucas, J., 1987, Leicester town defences: excavations 1958–1974 (Leicester: Leicestershire Museums, Art Galleries and Records Service)
    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 p256-7
    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
    Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p119
    Billson, C.J., 1920, Mediaeval Leicester (Leicester) p1, 205-6, 222
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) p200, 224
• Journal Articles
  • Lucas, J.N., 1978-9, ‘The town walls of Leicester: evidence for a west wall' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol54 p61-6 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/WallsPagesfromvolumeLIV-7.pdf
    Goodchild, R.G., 1953, 'Leicester City Wall in Sanvey Gate: excavations in 1952' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol29 p15-29 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/GoodchildPagesfromsmvolumeXXIX-3.pdf
    Clarke, 1952, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol28 p17-21 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/ALRPagesfromsmvolumeXXVIII-2.pdf
    1899-1904, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol9 p179 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/meetingsPagesfromIXpartsIII-IV.pdf
• Guidebooks
  • Chinnery, G.A., 1981, Leicester Castle and the Newarke (Leicester Museums)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Bateson M. (ed), 1899-1901, Records of the Borough of Leicester Vols1 and 2
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/huntseng.html#leics5]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p277