Portsmouth Town Defences

In the civil parish of Portsmouth.
In the historic county of Hampshire (Modern Authority of Portsmouth; City of, 1974 county of Hampshire).

Earth rampart raised on landward side of town in 1386, continued along seafront from 1560 and strengthened elsewhere by arrow head bastions. Now mainly demolished. Kings Bastion surviving part of Portsmouth's defences. Rebuilt to its present stone form in C17. Begun as an earthwork c.1522. Also The Saluting Platform - Battery Platform dated c.1522-1526 and altered in 1568. It was redesigned in the late C16 and early C19. In 1987 part of the wall collapsed during a storm. See also Round and Square Towers (qv) which survive and formed part of these defences. Murage granted in 1342 but town petitioned for its repel because of lost trade two years later.

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.

listed building

Images of England

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SZ63359910

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 462076, 859342, 859292

Books

Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p36, 87, 139, 182, 202-3, 214, 225, 257
Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern) p50
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p88-9
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
Barron, W.G., 1985, The Castles of Hampshire and Isle of Wight (Paul Cave) p41
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p196
Colvin, H.M. et al, 1982, The history of the King's Works Vol4: 1485-1660 (Part 2) p488-527
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
Lloyd, D.W., 1974, Buildings of Portsmouth and its Environs (Portsmouth) p59
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p158
Pevsner, N. and Lloyd, D., 1967, The Buildings of England: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (Harmondsworth) p422-424
Corney, A., 1965, Fortifications in Old Portsmouth (Portsmouth) p25-29
Lilley, 1923, Early Portsmouth Defences (Portsmouth)
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Page, Wm (ed), 1908, VCH, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Vol3 p187-190

Journal Articles

Fox, R.T., 1991, 'Portsmouth's ramparts revisited' Fortress Vol11 p29-38
Fox, R.T., 1988, ‘Portsmouth — Old Portsmouth, Camber Bastion' Archaeology in Hampshire: Annual Report for 1987 p32–4*
Fox, R.T., 1988, ‘Portsmouth — Old Portsmouth, the Saluting Platform' Archaeology in Hampshire: Annual Report for 1987 p34–6*
Fox, R.T., 1988, ‘Portsmouth — Old Portsmouth, Spur Redoubt' Archaeology in Hampshire: Annual Report for 1987 p36–7*
Fox, R.T., 1988, ‘Portsmouth — Old Portsmouth, King James’ Gate' Archaeology in Hampshire: Annual Report for 1987 p38
Kenyon, J.R., 1981 'Early Artillery Fortifications in England and Wales: a Preliminary Survey and Re-appraisal' Archaeological Journal Vol138 p220
Saunders, A.J., 1966, Archaeological Journal, Royal Archaeological Institute Vol123 p142-145 179-182

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

William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/wilshireeng.html#hants12]
Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p208-9
Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p283

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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