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Towcester Town Defences
In the civil parish of Towcester.
In the historic county of Northamptonshire (Modern Authority of Northamptonshire, 1974 county of Northamptonshire).
"There are no significant above ground remains of former medieval town defences or gates at …Towcester' (Creighton and Higham). Bond puts in 'Roman defensive circuit partly or wholly re-utilized in Anglo-Saxon period, but of no post-Conquest importance' list. PastScape report reads "Roman, Early Medieval, Medieval and Post Medieval town. Referred to by the Antonine Itinerary as Lactodorum, a ditched and walled town. The Anglo-Saxon chronicle records the fortification of Towcester after a Danish attack in 921. Excavations have found this wall set in the debris of the Roman wall. During the civil war the town was again walled on the Roman line, by Prince Rupert, but was slighted in 1644 and abandoned to the parliamentarians." If the defences were capable of being restored in C17 then possible post-Conquest use can not be entirely dismissed.
This site has been described as a;
Urban Defence.
The confidence
that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Earthworks remains.
This site is a scheduled
monument protected by law.
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP69194897
PastScape number;
970198, 1074750,
341226
Books
- Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p266
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) Vol2 p320
RCHME, 1982, An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northampton Vol4, Southwest Northamptonshire (HMSO) p5
Serjeantson, R.M., Ryland, W. and Adkins, D. (eds), 1902, VCH Northampton Vol1 p184
Journal Articles
- Brown, A.E. and Alexander, J.A., 1982, 'Excavation at Towcester, 1954: the Grammer School site' Northamptonshire Archaeology Vol17 p24-59
1978, Northamptonshire Archaeology Vol13 p182-3
Green, M.J., 1975, Archaeological Journal Vol132 p54-61 [List 63, no28]
Alexander, J., 1967, Bulletin of the Northamptonshire Federation of Archaeological Societies Vol2 p19
Simms, R.S., 1953, Archaeological Journal Vol110 p212
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
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