Colchester Town Wall

In the civil parish of Colchester.
In the historic county of Essex (Modern Authority of Essex, 1974 county of Essex).

Late C3 Roman wall which remained in use through the middle ages. Substaincailly intact. Grant of timber received in 1215. Money for defences was uniquely provided by exemption town from duty to send a member to parliament and his expenses used in1382, 1388, 1394, 1404 and 1410. Built of layers of septaria, interspersed with 4-fold course of brick, the lowest course going right through the wall, with a core of rubble and cement. Considerable lengths of the wall still reach a height of 15 ft, and it is on average 8 ft thick. The wall was strengthened in each corner and where it was met by the internal streets by an internal solid tower the base of one can be seen in the stretch on Balkerne Hill. The wall was extensively repaired during the reign of Richard II, 1389-1399 when it was strengthened by the addition of external semi-circular solid bastions, 4 of these remain in Priory Street. The wall was further considerably damaged in the 1648 siege.

This site has been described as a;
Urban Defence.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 116851, 117185)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL9925

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 383745, 383748

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 13113, 12291, 12312, 12316

• Web site links
  • http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/culture/towns/colchstr.html
• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p23, 30, 40, 65, 70, 92, 128, 133, 134, 202, 230, 240, 260
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern) p27
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p70-2
    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 p148
    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
    Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p125
    RCHME, 1922, An inventory of the historical monuments in Essex. Vol3 [north-east] p20-21
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) p226
    Gould, Chalkley, 1903, in Doubleday, Arthur and Page, Wm (eds), VCH Essex Vol1 p327
    Cromwell, 1825, History and Description of Colchester (London) Vol1 p169-77
• Journal Articles
  • Crummy, P., 1984, 'Excavations at Lion Walk, Balkerne Lane and Middleborough, Colchester, Essex' Colchester Archaeological Report 3
    Crummy, P., 1981, 'Aspects of Anglo-Saxon and Norman Colchester' CBA Research Report 39
    Wheeler, R.E.M., 1921, 'The Balkerne Gate, Colchester' Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society (new ser) Vol15 p179-189
    Laver, 1920, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol26 p22-32
    Jarmin, 1915, Essex Archaeological Association [new ser] Vol13 p105-12 [on the ditch]
    Duncan, 1858, Essex Archaeological Association Vol1 p26-58