| Coventry city walls | |
|---|---|
| Coventry, West Midlands | |
 Swanswell Gate | |
  Coventry city walls | |
| Coordinates | 52°24′39″N1°30′29″W / 52.41089°N 1.50795°W |
| Grid reference | grid reference SP335793 |
| Type | City wall |
| Site history | |
| Materials | Sandstone |
Coventry's city walls are a sequence of defensive structures built around the city of Coventry in England.
The city of Coventry was not walled until the 14th century; by the beginning of the 13th century the city was surrounded by ditches and had movable "bars" controlling access to the main routes in and out the city, but there were no proper defensive walls. [1] Reflecting Coventry's commercial and strategic importance, construction began on new city walls in the 1350s, with the mayor of Coventry, Richard Stoke, recorded as laying the first stone in 1356. [2] The construction effort started at New Gate and was initially finished in around 1400, but much repair work and re-routing was subsequently carried out to accommodate the expanding city and the walls were not finally completed until 1534. [3]
The walls measured nearly 2.2 miles (3.5 km) around and consisting of two red sandstone walls infilled with rubble over 8 feet (2.4 m) thick and 12 feet (3.7 m) high, with 32 towers including 12 gatehouses. [4] The twelve city gates were titled New Gate, Gosford Gate, Bastille Gate (later Mill Gate), Priory Gate (Swanswell Gate), Cook Street Gate, Bishop Gate, Well Street Gate, Hill Street Gate, Spon Gate, Greyfriars Gate, Cheylesmore Gate and Little Park Street Gate. [5]
The building work was paid for by murage, by which the king allowed a city to raise taxes on the imports of particular goods, and assisted by King Richard II allowing stone to be quarried from his park in Cheylesmore. [4] Later, some towers along the wall were let to private citizens, on the condition that they assisted in maintaining stretches of the defences. [6] Watchmen for the walls and gates were provided by dividing Coventry into ten wards, each of which had the task of providing a number of men on a rotating basis. [7]
With its walls, Coventry was described as being the best-defended city in England outside London. [4] The city of Coventry faced few military threats, however, and the decision to build the walls appears to have been driven by political and economic drivers - walls were important symbolically to a city's leading citizens and in turn could bring additional trade. [8] The decision to build the walls in the 1350s appears to be linked to the "Tripartite Indenture" of Coventry in 1355, which established a common local government for the city. [9]
The walls were maintained into the 17th century and were repaired during the English Civil War of the 1640s. [1] In 1662, after the restoration of the monarchy, in revenge for the support Coventry gave to the Parliamentarians during the Civil War, the city walls were demolished on the orders of King Charles II. In the 21st century only two of the medieval gates survive - Swanswell Gate [10] and Cook Street Gate [11] - and some small sections of walling. [12] The remaining wall circuit is protected as a Grade I listed building and a scheduled monument.
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders.
This article is about the history of Coventry, a city in the West Midlands, England.
Cheylesmore is a suburb in the southern half of the city of Coventry, West Midlands, England. It is one of Coventry's largest suburbs, sharing borders with Whitley and Stivichall in the South, extending into Coventry city centre and bordering with Earlsdon in the North. Locally pronounced as 'Charlesmore' or occasionally 'Chellsmore', Cheylesmore has two shopping parades situated in Daventry Road and Quinton Park. These shops overlook a small park and pool known as Quinton Pool. It takes its name from Cheylesmore Manor. The original name probably derives from 'Chez Les Morts' since a huge plague pit was found during excavations after the Second World War. The city gate leading to the area was labelled as Childsmore Gate on old maps, an alternative etymology of the name.
Castle Acre Castle and town walls are a set of ruined medieval defences built in the village of Castle Acre, Norfolk. The castle was built soon after the Norman Conquest by William de Warenne, the Earl of Surrey, at the intersection of the River Nar and the Peddars Way. William constructed a motte-and-bailey castle during the 1070s, protected by large earthwork ramparts, with a large country house in the centre of the motte. Soon after, a small community of Cluniac monks were given the castle's chapel in the outer bailey; under William, the second earl, the order was given land and estates to establish Castle Acre Priory alongside the castle. A deer park was created nearby for hunting.
Bond's Hospital is an almshouse in Coventry, England, established for old bedesmen. It is a Grade II* listed building.
Hillfields is a suburb of Coventry in the West Midlands of England. It is situated north of Coventry city centre, and has undergone a series of name changes throughout its history originally called "Harnall" and has seen itself change from a village, to a remote suburb, to a large postwar redevelopment zone.
Greyfriars was a medieval Franciscan priory in Coventry, England. The original monastic buildings were lost in the Reformation; the spire standing on the site today was most recently part of a 19th-century church that was destroyed in an air raid in the Second World War.
Conwy's town walls are a medieval defensive structure around the town of Conwy in Wales. The walls were constructed between 1283 and 1287 after the foundation of Conwy by Edward I, and were designed to form an integrated system of defence alongside Conwy Castle. The walls are 1.3 km (0.81 mi) long and include 21 towers and three gatehouses. The project was completed using large quantities of labourers brought in from England; the cost of building the castle and walls together came to around £15,000, a huge sum for the period. The walls were slightly damaged during the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr in 1401, but political changes in the 16th century reduced the need to maintain such defences around the town. The fortifications were treated sympathetically during the development of the road and railway systems in Conwy during the 19th century and survived largely intact into the modern period. Today the walls form part of the UNESCO world heritage site administered by Cadw. Historians Oliver Creighton and Robert Higham describe the defences as "one of the most impressive walled circuits" in Europe.
Caernarfon's town walls are a medieval defensive structure around the town of Caernarfon in North Wales. The walls were constructed between 1283 and 1292 after the foundation of Caernarfon by Edward I, alongside the adjacent castle. The walls are 734 m (2,408 ft) long and include eight towers and two medieval gatehouses. The project was completed using large numbers of labourers brought in from England; the cost of building the walls came to around £3,500, a large sum for the period. The walls were significantly damaged during the rebellion of Madog ap Llywelyn in 1294, and had to be repaired at considerable expense. Political changes in the 16th century reduced the need to maintain such defences around the town. Today the walls form part of the UNESCO world heritage site administered by Cadw. Archaeologists Oliver Creighton and Robert Higham describe the defences as "a remarkably intact walled circuit".
Worcester's city walls are a sequence of defensive structures built around the city of Worcester in England between the 1st and 17th centuries. The first walls to be built around Worcester were constructed by the Romans. These early walls lasted beyond the fall of the Empire, and the defences encouraged several early Christian foundations to establish themselves in Worcester during the troubled 6th and 7th centuries. The Anglo-Saxons expanded Worcester in the 890s, forming a new walled, planned city, called a burh. The burh utilised the southern stretches of the old Roman walls, but pushed further north to enclose a much larger area. The Anglo-Saxon city walls were maintained by a share of taxes on a local market and streets, in an agreement reinforced by a royal charter.
Bath's city walls were a sequence of defensive structures built around the city of Bath in England. Roman in origin, then restored by the Anglo-Saxons, and later strengthened in the High medieval period, the walls formed a complete circuit, covering the historic core of the modern city, an area of approximately 23 acres (9.3 ha) including the Roman Baths and medieval Bath Abbey. In the present-day however, the walls have largely disappeared, though the route they took is evident from the street layout; one of the gates partially remains.
Abergavenny's town walls are a sequence of defensive walls built around the town of Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, Wales.
Alnwick's town walls are a 15th-century defensive structure built around the town of Alnwick in England.
Berwick's town walls are a sequence of defensive structures built around the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in England.
Beverley's town walls are a sequence of defensive structures built around the town of Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
Southampton's town walls are a sequence of defensive structures built around the town in southern England. Although earlier Roman and Anglo-Saxon settlements around Southampton had been fortified with walls or ditches, the later walls originate with the move of the town to the current site in the 10th century. This new town was defended by banks, ditches and the natural curve of the river and coastline. The Normans built a castle in Southampton but made no attempts to improve the wider defences of the town until the early 13th century, when Southampton's growing prosperity as a trading centre and conflict with France encouraged the construction of a number of gatehouses and stone walls to the north and east sides of the settlement.
There are 19 Grade I listed buildings in the City of Coventry. In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a building or structure of special historical or architectural importance. These buildings are legally protected from demolition, as well as from any extensions or alterations that would adversely affect the building's character or destroy historic features. Listed buildings in England and Wales are divided into three categories—Grade II buildings are buildings of special interest; Grade II* buildings are Grade II buildings of particular interest; and Grade I buildings, which are those of "exceptional" interest. Only around four per cent of listed buildings are given Grade I status.
Canterbury city walls are a sequence of defensive walls built around the city of Canterbury in Kent, England. The first city walls were built by the Romans, probably between 270 and 280 AD. These walls were constructed from stone on top of an earth bank, and protected by a ditch and wall towers. At least five gates were placed into the walls, linked to the network of Roman roads across the region. With the collapse of Roman Britain, Canterbury went into decline but the walls remained, and may have influenced the decision of Augustine to settle in the city at the end of the 6th century. The Anglo-Saxons retained the defensive walls, building chapels over most of the gates and using them to defend Canterbury against Viking incursions.
Cook Street Gate is a medieval gate in Coventry, England. It was probably built in the second half of the 14th century as part of the defensive circuit of the city.
