Heritage Gateway

Shropshire HER

HER Number (PRN):	01454
Name:	Berringtons Tower
Type of Record:	Monument
Protected Status:	Conservation Area: Shrewsbury

Monument Type(s):

TOWER (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
TOWN WALL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

The site of a medieval tower and town wall.

Parish:	Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury and Atcham, Shropshire
Map Sheet:	SJ41SE
Grid Reference:	SJ 4880 1257

Related records

01095

Related to: Shrewsbury town walls (13th century) (Monument)

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

ESA1988 - 1960 field observation by the Ordnance Survey (Oct)
ESA1989 - 1960 field observation by the Ordnance Survey (Nov)
ESA7590 - 2015 Conservation management survey of the town walls, Shrewsbury, by SCAS

Description

Tower guarding the Priory road into the Quarry stood on the site of Claremount buildings. (SJ4879 1254) <1a>
The tower at Claremount Buildings was taken down before 1739 <1b>
Both Speed's and Burleigh's maps show a tower about halfway between Claremont Hill and St Austin's St, approximately at the N end of the present site of Claremount Buildings at SJ4880 1257 <1c><1d>

Both the Burghley Map of c.1575 and Speed's of 1610 show a tower on the town wall between the Austin Friars and the site of New St Chad's at the end of Claremont Hill. Davies identified this as Berrington's Tower [<1a>]. The name is probably derived from William Berrington, who appears in the Corporation rent roll of 1686 as the occupier of the tower next to that held by Edward Montgomery (who was presumably in Montgomery's Tower, PRN 01455) [<2>]. In 1665 a piece of ground was rented to George Hosier, gent., adjoining Berrington's Tower, 'whereon he erected a waterworks' [<2>]. The fate of this tower is uncertain. It had probably gone by 1739, as the panoramic view of Shrewsbury Taken as it Appeared in the Great Frost, 1739, shows only a pair of buttresses in this position, so the waterworks reservoir mentioned in the Corporation minutes for 1763 on Claremont Hill [<3>] had presumably been moved. Rocque's map of 1746 does however show a small rectangular projecting feature in this area. <4>

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 tower is identified as 8c, the site of a mural tower about halfway along the section of wall here (PRN 62566), opposite the St. John's Ambulance HQ. <5>

Sources

[00]	SSA20722 - Card index: Shropshire County Council SMR. Site and Monuments Record (SMR) cards. SMR record cards. SMR Card for PRN SA 01454.
[01b]	SSA10571 - Article in serial: Blakeway J B. 1905. The Topographical History of Shrewsbury. Trans Shropshire Archaeol Hist Soc. Ser 3, Vol V (=Vol 28). Pt 2, p253-278. p255.
[01a]	SSA5571 - Article in serial: Davies R E. 1909/ 1912. Town Walls of Shrewsbury. Trans Caradoc Severn Valley Fld Club. Vol 5. p175-190. p182.
[01c]	SSA5574 - Map: Speed J. 1610. Speed's Plan of Shrewsbury.
[01d]	SSA5582 - Map: Anon. Shrewsbury in the Time of Queen Elizabeth for Lord Burleigh.
[01]	SSA5584 - Card index: Ordnance Survey. 1960. Ordnance Survey Record Card SJ41SE47.12. Ordnance Survey record cards. SJ41SE47..
[02]	SSA10638 - Article in serial: Anon. 1911/ 1912. The Gates: Shrewsbury Town Walls and Towers. Caradoc News Cuttings. Vol 9. p101, 03/05/1912.
[03]	SSA10638 - Article in serial: Anon. 1911/ 1912. The Gates: Shrewsbury Town Walls and Towers. Caradoc News Cuttings. Vol 9. p98-99, 24/04/1912.
[04]	SSA20432 - HER comment: Baker Nigel J. UAD Analysis.
[05]	SSA28223 - Management report: Hannaford Hugh R. 2015. Shrewsbury Town Walls: a conservation management plan (2 volumes). SCAS Rep. 368. Gazetteer 8c.

Date Last Edited:	Jan 7 2021 9:13AM

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