Durham City Wall

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Promontory Wall

In the civil parish of Durham. In the historic county of Durham; County Palatinate of (Modern Authority of Durham, 1974 county of County Durham).

Murage grants in 1315 and 1337. The earliest peninsula defences were possibly of Anglo Saxon date, although no firm evidence of these Saxon defences has yet been found. Although the city had resisted three sieges by the Scots in 1006, 1012 and 1040 the defences were rebuilt by Bishop Flambard (1099-1128). From the motte the wall ran east to the North Gate, the principal entrance on the peninsula, then south around the river gorge, along the edge of the higher ground with gates to the east and south. Flambard also built a wall between the keep and the cathedral, having cleared Palace Green of houses to establish his adminisrative centre. The walls along the east side were rebuilt, and presumably strengthened, in 1173-4. Later, a wall was constructed from the east end of the cathedral down Bow Lane to Kingsgate to divide the civil and ecclesiastical precincts. Scottish incursions into northern England in the early C14 led to the strengthening of the castle and defences at Durham. In 1315 the townspeople sucessfully petitioned the King for permission to protect the Bishop's Borough around the Market Place with walls. The military importance of the castle's peninsula walls declined during C16 and some gates had gone by 1595; the city was gradually opened up during the C17 and C18. The North Gate, the last of Durham's gates, was taken down in 1820. Only fragments of the defences now remain, some of the walls visible and dislocated parts of other structures incorporated in later buildings. One of the best stretches of wall is that at the south end of the peninsula. North of the Castle C14 town walls have almost completely vanished.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ270420

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 24470 and others
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is D1214; 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.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=D1214
• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p24, 96, 128, 213, 270
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles and Tower Houses of County Durham (Malvern) p28-9
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p29
    Roberts, Martin, 1994, English Heritage book of Durham (London: English Heritage)
    Corfe, Tom (ed), 1992, 'The Visible Middle Ages' in An Historical Atlas of County Durhan p28-9
    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 p140
    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 p62
    Clack, P.A.G. and Gosling, P.F., 1976, Archaeology in the North (Newcastle) gazetteer p136
    Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p102-3
    Page, Wm (ed), 1928, VCH Durham Vol3 (London) p65, 91-3 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=42608
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p146
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) p234-5
    Hutchinson, Wm, 1785-94, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham Vol2 p280-3
• Journal Articles
  • Clack, P.A.G., 1980, 'Rescue excavations in County Durham, 1976-78, 3: an excavation at Queen's Court, 2 North Bailey, Durham City' Transactions of the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland [new ser] Vol5 p56-70
    Clipson, J., 1980, 'Back Silver Street, Durham: 1975-6 excavations' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser5] Vol8 p109-126
    Whiting, C.E. 1933. Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol10 p123-132
    Jones and Fowler, 1915-16, Proceeding of the Society of Antiquries London Vol28 p221-6
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rot. Parl. I, 302
    CPR (1334-1338) p387 [Royal confirmation of bishops murage grant]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Speed, John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain [http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/home/johnspeed/Cities10.htm]
    William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/durhameng.html#durham9]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p150-2