Lancaster Town Wall

In the civil parish of Lancaster.
In the historic county of Lancashire (Modern Authority of Lancashire, 1974 county of Lancashire).

C14 masonry wall planned but probably never built or never completed writes Bond. However, "The visible earthwork rampart in Vicarage Field follows the line of the earlier Roman defences but is not itself apparently Roman. In the west, its highest point, it overlies the Roman ditches. The rampart consists of a thick mound of black earth up to 4ft deep, and west of which there had been an attempt to build a stone revetment from material robbed from the Roman wall. Medieval green-glazed pottery found suggests that this rampart is medieval. In 1316 Lancaster had a single grant of Murage and these earthwork defences may be connected with the Priory or Castle, which both stand on the plateau of the hill within part of the area of the Roman fort".(from http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/archaeologyandheritage/archsites/arch5.asp)

This site has been described as a;
Urban Defence.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Cropmarks/slight earthworks remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SD47626172

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; 921725

• Web site links
  • http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/archaeologyandheritage/archsites/arch5.asp
• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p182, 269
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern) p33 [where mistakenly reports no ditch]
    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 p250
    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)
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p268
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol4 p11