Montgomery Town Defences

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Trefaldwyn; Mungumery; Muntgomery; Monte Gomeri

In the community of Montgomery. In the historic county of Montgomeryshire (Modern authority of Powys, preserved county of Powys).

Remains of banks, ditches and, in parts, a counterscarp, define an irregular polygonal circuit, c.660m N-S by c.400m E-W, enclosing the medieval town and castle of Montgomery. The town charter of 1227 allowed the construction of town walls, however the first murage grant does not occur untill 1267. The initial circuit is thought to have been palisaded, replaced by a masonry wall and towers from c.1279, this circuit being depicted as ruined c.1610. (Coflein)
The 1279 start date for the stone wall comes from Taylor who did not quote the murage grants. At start date for the stone wall of 1267 is not improbable, but O'Neill and Foster-Smith felt the stone wall dated from c. 1230, about the time of the completion of the castle. The castle's keeper was ordered, in 1275, to sell underwood and to apply the money to repairing the walls, dykes and paling of the town and castle.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1227 Feb 13.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SO22279665

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 National Monument Record (Coflein) number is 306412; 309053
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 50664 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.

• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p18, 27, 132, 152, 272
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of Mid Wales (Malvern) p44
    Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p149-50
    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
    Soulsby, Ian, 1983, The Towns of Medieval Wales (Phillimore; Chichester) p185-7 [plan]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p302
    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) p217
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p449
    Lewis, Samual, 1849, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47870#s1
• Journal Articles
  • Jones, N.W. and Britnell, W.J. 1998, ‘Montgomery Town Wall: excavation and recording at Plas Du. 1995-97’ Montgomeryshire Collections Vol86 p5-15
    Jones, N., 1998, ‘Montgomery. Town defences’ Archaeology in Wales Vol38
    Gibson, A., 1990, ‘Kerry Gate. Montgomery’ Archaeology in Wales Vol30 p69
    Gibson, A., 1990, ‘Montgomery Town Ditch. Montgomery’ Archaeology in Wales Vol30 p69
    Jones, N.W. and Owen, W.J., 1988. ‘Montgomery Town Walls’ Archaeology in Wales Vol28 p73
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    Taylor, A.J. 1947. ‘Montgomery Town Walls’ Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol99 p281-3
    O'Neil, B.H.St J. and Foster-Smith, A.H., 1940, ‘Montgomery Town Wall’ Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol95 p217-28
• Guidebooks
  • Lloyd, J.D.K. and Knight, J.K., 1981 2 edn, Montgomery Castle, Powys/Castell Trefaldwyn (HMSO) p24-7
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Charter Rolls Vol1 p10 [borough charter]
    CPR (1266-1272) p106; (1272-1281) p248; (1281-1291) p474; (1313-1317) p278; (1317-1321) p590; (1327-1330) p31; (1334-1338) p339 [murage grants]
    CPR (1272-1281) p104 [power to sell underwood as use proceeds for castle and town walls]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/glameng.html#mont2]
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1906, Leland's Itinerary in Wales (Bell and Sons; London) p11 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryinwales00lelauoft