Taunton Town Defences

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; East Overton, Borough Bank

In the civil parish of Taunton.
In the historic county of Somerset (Modern Authority of Somerset, 1974 county of Somerset).

The deserted Medieval settlement of East Overton, located within West Overton, which includes town defences known as Borough Bank, 70m north of St Mary Magdalene Church, located between Northgate and Eastgate in the north east part of Taunton. The borough defences were remodelled from 1215-1216. Partial excavations exposed the bank and ditch. The defences appear to have fallen into disuse from C14.

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

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST2224

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 190827

Web site links

http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=44459

Books

Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p24, 39, 91, 158, 235, 257
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
Leach, Peter (ed), 1984, The Archaeology of Taunton: excavations and fieldwork to 1980 (Bristol: Western Archaeological Trust excavation monographs Vol8) p59-63
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p447
Bush, R. and Leach, P., 1977, Taunton: the Borough Defences (Committee for Rescue Archaeology in Avon, Gloucestershire and Somerset)
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) p199

Journal Articles

Leach, 1978, Medieval Archaeology Vol22 p177
1972, CBA: Group 12 (Wessex) and Group 13 (South West): Archaeological review Vol7 p64
Taylor, R.F., 1967, Notes and queries for Somerset and Dorset Vol28 p333
Radford, C.A.Ralegh and Hallam, A.D., 1953, 'History of Taunton Castle' Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol98 p89-96

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