Dunwich Town Defences

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Pales Dyke

In the civil parish of Dunwich. In the historic county of Suffolk (Modern Authority of Suffolk, 1974 county of Suffolk).

C12 and C13 defences of Earthen banks. Scant traces of C13 work. Single grant of murage in 1253 but this may have been for sea or flood defences rather than fortification. Last remnant exists, rest destroyed by coastal erosion.
The surviving stretch of Pales Dyke was surveyed by the RCHME's Cambridge Office in October 1993, following a request from Suffolk County Council. The ditch is up to 14m wide and between 0.5 and 1m deep. The name Pales Dyke is recorded as early as 1573, supposedly deriving from the former existence of a pale or timber palisade. In 1589 Radulp Agas described Pales Dyke as an 'auncient bancke', part of which had been overlain by the precinct wall of Greyfriars (TM 47 SE 3). Agas' map marks the course of the bank and the location of Middle Gate. The date of the Pales Dyke is unknown, since the excavations of 1970 were unable to provide conclusive evidence (West, 1971). The defences must have existed in 1253, when the Calender of Close Rolls refers to a building near the South Gate of Dunwich, and probably in 1173 when the town survived a siege by the Earl of Leicester. The Dyke had become obsolete by 1290 when the Franciscans demolished part of the existing circuit. Either the useful life of the Pales Dyke was short or it may be earlier than has hitherto been suggested, little is known of Saxon Dunwich. (PastScape–ref. RCHME: Dunwich Greyfriars Survey)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TM47857024

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 392113
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is DUN 009; DUN 021 '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.

• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p39, 57, 88, 264
    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) Vol2 p461
    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) p125
• Journal Articles
  • 1997, Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol39 pt1 [excavation note]
    1994, Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol39 pt2 [survey note]
    West, S.E., 1971, The excavation of Dunwich town defences, 1970 (with a note by N. Scarfe)' Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol32 pt1 p25-37
    Scarfe, N., 1971, 'Note on the historical records of Dunwich's defences. (in West 1971)' Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol32 pt1 p34-7
    West, S.E., 1967, CBA Group 7 Vol14 p19
    Spencer, H.E.P., 1935, 'Notes on the excavation of Temple Hill, Dunwich, December 1935' Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol22 pt2 p198-200
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/essexeng.html#suff12]
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Linford, P., 2000, Greyfriars, Dunwich, Suffolk. Report on geophysical survey, March–April 1994. (Ancient Monuments Laboratory Report 43/2000). London: English Heritage http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/reports/dunwich/
    Boulter, S., 1999, Dunwich Greyfriars, Dunwich (DUN 025). Record of an Archaeological Evaluation. (Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service Report 99/21). Ipswich: Suffolk County Council