Derby Town Defences

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

Derby was a Danish stronghold in 917. The line of the Medieval defences remain uncertain but are recorded in Medieval documents.
There may have been a Saxon village on the site of Derby after the Romans left. However the Danes founded the town of Derby about 873 AD after they invaded England. They created a fortified settlement at Derby. It was an easy place to fortify. To the east the river Derwent protected it. To the east [sic west is meant] and south a tributary of the Derwent protected Derby. All the Danes had to do was to fortify the northern approach between the two rivers. They dug a ditch and erected an earth bank with a wooden palisade on top. (Lambert)
Lambert statement is unsupported by evidence but is not unreasonable in expecting the main artificial line of defences to be to the north of the medieval town, presumably near the line of St Mary's Gate, with Derby Cathedral on the line. (A number of churches and chapels are built close to town gates - The Cathedral started as Saxon chapel in the Danish town.)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SK3536

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

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.

• Web site links
  • http://www.localhistories.org/derby.html [Tim Lambert]
• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p60, 70, 267
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p112
    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
• Journal Articles
  • Hall, R.A., 1974, 'The pre-Conquest burh of Derby' Derbyshire Archaeological Journal Vol94 p16-23
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Mercian Register [Transcribe and translated in Whitelock, D. (ed), 1955, English Historical Documents Vol 1 p196]