Northampton Town Wall

In the civil parish of Northampton.
In the historic county of Northamptonshire (Modern Authority of Northamptonshire, 1974 county of Northamptonshire).

The wall was built by the 1st Earl of Northampton, Simon de senlis I, between 1090-1111. Grants of murage were made in 1224, 1251, and 1301, the latter so large that it suggests a rebuild rather than repair. The four main gates were on the Market Harborough, London, Kettering and Daventry roads. After falling into disuse in C16, it was repaired in 1642-3. Demolished on Royal orders in 1662. Speed's map of 1610 shows two triangular bastions towars the south-east corner on the south side. Excavations in Green street in 1986-7 recovered the most complete sequence yet found. The earliest defences were a clay bank revetted in timber of early C10 date. This was later refaced in stone and a gateway ceated. The latter was blocked in C12 when the Mediaeval town wall was built. Evidence of Civil War usage was seen in two ditches cut into the Medaeval infilled ditch.

This site has been described as a;
Urban Defence.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Nothing visible remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP748604

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 1396861

Books

Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p24, 39, 45, 67, 93, 109, 175, 237, 267, 279
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p169 [slight]
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
RCHME, 1985, ‘Medieval defences’ and ‘Northampton Castle' An inventory of the historical monuments in the county of Northampton. 5. Archaeological sites and churches in Northampton (London: HMSO) p50–1, 327–30, 332–5 [the main entries are on microfiche]
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p320
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 p64
Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p120
Page, Wm (ed), 1930, VCH Northampton Vol3 p1-32 [sparse notes]
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) p223

Journal Articles

Hiller, Jonathan, Hardy, Alan and Blinkhorn, Paul, 2002, 'Excavations at Derngate, Northampton. 1997-2000' Northamptonshire Archaeology Vol30 p31-62
Chapman, Andy, 1998-9, 'Excavation of the Town Defences at Green Street, Northampton, 1995-6' Northamptonshire Archaeology Vol28 p25-60
Youngs, S.M. et al, 1988 ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1987' Medieval Archaeology Vol32 p265
Williams, J.H., 1982, 'Four small excavations on Northampton's medieval defences and elsewhere' Northamptonshire Archaeology Vol17 p60–73
Greenall, R.L., 1979, ‘The demolition of Northampton’s walls, July 1662' Northamptonshire Past and Present, 6.2 p83-4
Mynard, D.C., 1976, 'Excavations on the Mayorhold, Northampton, 1971' Northamptonshire Archaeology Vol11 p134-50
Mynard, D.C., 1972, CBA Group 9 vol2 p17

Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)

Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p324

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