Hereford City Wall

In the civil parish of Hereford.
In the historic county of Herefordshire (Modern Authority of Herefordshire, 1974 county of Hereford and Worcester).

About the mid C9 the main part of the town was enclosed with a bank and ditch. The defences were completely rebuilt in earth and timber towards the end of the century and extended. The earth and timber defences were later rebuilt in stone, probably between 901-40. Following the Norman Conquest a new town with a vast market place was laid out to the north of the Saxon burh, but it was not until 1189 that the town was granted its first charter and empowered to fortify the town. The new defensive works included a substantial extension to the north. Originally six gates, sixteen round towers. Remains fragmentary, but including two large towers. Murage grants almost continuous from 1224 until late C15.

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

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SO512395

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; 110198

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 30174 et al

• Web site links
  • http://www.herefordwebpages.co.uk/normans.shtml
• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p24, 39-40, 43, 45-6, 56, 59, 65, 90, 101, 129, 159, 179, 187, 199, 265, 278
    Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern) p39
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p98
    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 p214-5
    Shoesmith, Ron, 1982, Hereford City Excavations - Vol2: Excavations on and close to the Defences (CBA Research Report 46)
    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 p63
    Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p205-7
    Lobel, M.D., 1969, 'Hereford' in Lobel, M.D. (ed), Historic Towns: Maps and Plans of Towns and Cities in the British Isles, with Historical Commentaries, from Earliest Times to 1800' Vol1 (London: Lovell Johns-Cook, Hammond and Kell Organization) p1-11
    1969, Archaeological Excavation 1968 (HMSO) p22-3
    RCHME, 1931, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire. Vol1: south-west p119, 126-7
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) p242
    Chalkley Gould, 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Hereford Vol1 p260
• Journal Articles
  • [Shoesmith], 1976, Medieval Archaeology Vol20 p162
    [Shoesmith], 1974, Medieval Archaeology Vol18 p178
    [Shoesmith], 1973, Medieval Archaeology Vol17 p143-4
    Shoesmith, Ron, 1972, 'Hereford' Current Archaeology Vol33 p256-8
    Shoesmith, Ron, 1971, 'Hereford City Excavations, 1970' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalist Field Club Vol40 p225-40
    Noble, Shoesmith and other, 1967, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalist Field Club Vol39 p44-67
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    1967, Medieval Archaeology Vol11 p292
    Hurst, D.G. (ed), 1966, 'Medieval Britain in 1965: II Post-conquest' Medieval Archaeology Vol10 p198-9
    Marshall, 1940, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field ClubVol36 p117-25 [excavation report]
    Fox, C., 1931, 'Offa's Dyke: A field survey. Sixth Report' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol86 p21
    Watkins, 1927, Archaeologia Cambrensis [ser7] Vol7 p446-51
    Watkins, 1920, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club p249-58
    Watkins, 1919, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club p159-63
    1900, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club p36-7
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/hertseng.html#herts7]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p215, 218-20
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol2 p65-6