Monument Type(s):

• TOWN GATE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

The site of a medieval town gate.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA1310 - 1989 Evaluation of the Nurses Home site,Shrewsbury by BUFAU
• ESA1977 - 1960 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA1978 - 1977 field observation by Shropshire County Council
• ESA7590 - 2015 Conservation management survey of the town walls, Shrewsbury, by SCAS

Description

Site of St Mary's Gate marked on OS 25in of 1927 at SJ4935 1267. No trace now remains of the gate. OS FI 1960 <1>
Davies in his article on the Town Wall reported that at the top of Water Lane the jambs of the upper gate remain. The gate was between a stretch of the Town Wall (SA 1095) to the N which Davies considered dated to 1100-1135, and a stretch to the south, dating to 1220-1225. He does not suggest a date for the gate <1a>
The gate is shown on Speed's 1610 map <1c>

The south jamb of the gate may be represented by walling at SJ4939 1266. I Burrow FI 1977 <2>

A jamb was noted by BUFAU at the northern end of the retaining wall between their areas A and C (of the interim report) in their evaluation of the Nurses Home site in 1989. No NGR or plan is given but it would appear to be at SJ49373 12672. It is described as the remains of the sandstone jamb of a gate across the lane <3>

On the plan accompanying the formal account of the evaluation, remains of St Mary's Gate appear to be marked at c SJ49375 12662. The relationship of these remains is discussed in relationship with the identification of the town wall <4>

Note: the dates attached by Davis [<1a>] to specific sections of masonry appear to be entirely speculative. As stated in the accounts above, one jamb survives of what appears to have been a gateway, in the location shown by the Burghley and Speed maps. The jamb is constructed of weathered sandstone ashlar (type not i.d.). At the same level as the jamb, immediately adjacent to the south, is a cellar with a brick barrel-vaulted roof, under the terrace above. Within the cellar, the masonry of the jamb appears to return southwards as a finished face, suggesting that there was some kind of internal space associated with the gate to the south; relationships with the terrace wall [PRN 62546] and other masonry exposed in the cellar require detailed investigation. The course of the town wall to the south of this monument is distinctly uncertain (see PRN 62545). Immediately to the north, a masonry wall 60244 at the east end of the Traitor's Gate basement restaurant, at the same level as the gateway remains, may be town wall fabric (part of 62531). The gates and town walls in the Water Lane area have been (early 1997) the subject of a student research project, with some stone-by-stone drawn elevations, by Elaena Donald-Lopez, University of Durham <6>

A conservation management plan was prepared in 2015 for the entire circuit of town walls surrounding Shrewsbury (excluding around Shrewsbury Castle at the NE corner). This provides a general historic overview of the development of the town defences, together with detailed analysis and management recommendations for individual sections (in gazetteer form in volume 2). This feature is identified as 16a.->

-> The remains of the upper gate are visible on both sides of the lane, the remains on the south being the more substantial. On the south side the gate jamb can be seen, constructed of weathered sandstone ashlar. At the same level as the jamb, immediately adjacent to the south, is a cellar with a brick barrel-vaulted roof, under the car park above. Within the cellar, the masonry of the jamb appears to return southwards as a finished face, suggesting that there was an internal space associated with the gate to the south; this cellar is now gated and not accessible. Red sandstone masonry in the basement of Traitors Gate Restaurant (PRN 60244) may be remains of this upper gate or a section of wall connecting the gate to the castle defences. <7>

<00> Shropshire County Council SMR, Site and Monuments Record (SMR) cards, SMR Card for PRN SA 01445 (Card index). SSA20722.

<01c> Speed J, 1610, Speed's Plan of Shrewsbury (Map). SSA5574.

<01a> Davies R E, 1909/ 1912, Town Walls of Shrewsbury, p179 (Article in serial). SSA5571.

<01b> Beaumont H, 1956, Article in the Archaeological Journal, p191 (Plan) (Article in serial). SSA4157.

<01> Ordnance Survey, 1960, Ordnance Survey Record Card SJ41SE47.1 (Card index). SSA5575.

<02> Burrow Ian, 1977-Sep-08, Visit Notes, 08/09/1977 (Site visit report). SSA5577.

<03> Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit, 1989, Nurses Home Site, Windsor Place, Shrewsbury: Interim report of archaeological investigations (Excavation report). SSA4149.

<04> Buteux Simon, 1989, Shrewsbury Blackfriars and nurses' home: archaeological evaluation, p2, p9-11, Fig 2 (Excavation report). SSA4150.

<05> Watson Michael D, 1982, St Marys Gate, Shrewsbury (Photograph). SSA5576.

<06> Baker Nigel J, UAD Analysis (SMR comment). SSA20432.

<07> Hannaford Hugh R, 2015, Shrewsbury Town Walls: a conservation management plan (2 volumes), Gazetteer 16a (Management report). SSA28223.

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.