Wells City Wall

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Welles

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

Roman settlement, Saxon and Medieval town. There is documentary evidence for medieval town defences. The Medieval borough was created in 1174. Single grant of murage for 5 years in 1341 to the mayor, bailiffs and burgesses. Bond writes C14 Stone walls planned but probably never built or never completed. There is probably some confusion between the walls of the extensive cathedral close (ibid) (the work of the Bishop, Dean and Chapter) licensed in 1340 but possible not completed until licensed again in 1451 and any defences planed by the town (Mayor and burgesses).

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

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1341 July 17 but then revoked.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST5445

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; 197153

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 24810

• Web site links
  • http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=24810
• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p26, 48, 207, 218, 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
    Haslam, Jeremy (ed), 1984, Anglo-Saxon towns in southern England p193-4
    Faull, Margaret L. (ed), 1984, Studies in late Anglo-Saxon settlement p16
    Aston, M and Leech, R., 1977, Historic Towns in Somerset p147-154
    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)
• Journal Articles
  • Rodwell, W., 1980, Current Archaeology Vol73 p38-44
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Charter Rolls Vol5 p6-7
    Calendar of Patent Rolls (1340-43) p248