Monument Type(s):

• TOWN WALL (13th century to 15th century - 1200 AD to 1499 AD)

Summary

A length of town wall appearing on the Burghley Map of c.1575, and on Speed's of 1610.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA4837 - 2000 Evaluation at site of Garewalds Tower in advance of remedial works by Marches Archaeology
• ESA6737 - 2012 Excavation on land off Smithfield Road, Shrewsbury (Premier Inn Site) by SLR Consulting
• ESA7536 - 1999/2000 WB during rebuilding of the wall at Severn Terrace, Smithfield Road, Shrewsbury by Jo Barnes
• ESA7590 - 2015 Conservation management survey of the town walls, Shrewsbury, by SCAS

Description

Length of town wall appearing on the Burghley Map of c.1575, and on Speed's of 1610.
No archaeological sightings. It appears to have run between Garewald's Tower, or castellum [PRN 01446], at the bottom of the Meadow Place wall [PRN 62522], to Gilbert's Tower [PRN 01457] very approximately 70-80m SW along the river bank.
The relationship of this wall to Garewald's Ford [PRN 62525] is identical to that of the New Work [PRN 62559] to the ford between Frankwell and Barker Street. This wall may, therefore, represent an extension to the Meadow Place wall specifically designed to control movement over the ford, possibly as part of the same late 13th-century scheme of defence as the New Work. It was presumably incorporated in the Civil War Roushill Wall [PRN 04303] in the 1640s and may therefore have survived into the 19th century, when the latter was removed on the creation of the Smithfield Road c.1835, and the cattle market c.1848 [<1>]. <2>

In advance of remedial works, two trenches were excavated behind the postulated line of the town wall alongside the Severn in Smithfield Road, Shrewsbury. At a depth of approximately 300mm substantial stone footings were encountered. These formed part of the wall and excavation ceased. Apart from clearly modern pottery, only one sherd was found adhering to the top of the wall and may be contemporaneous with the construction of the wall, or at least its upper portion. This was dated to the late 17th/early 18th century. It was considered that this section of the wall was subject to consolidation at this time, perhaps indicating that the well-documented civil war defence strengthening of the wall needed later repair. <3>

Archaeological investigations were undertaken in January 2012 on a site on Smithfield Road, Shrewsbury ahead of the construction of the Premier Inn hotel. This site lay to the SE of the line of the Civil War defences, to the south of Smithfield Road. ->

-> The excavation demonstrated that the site formed part of the floodplain, probably used as meadowland during medieval and post-medieval times, until the 19th century when a concerted effort to raise the level by 2m culminated in construction of Smithfield Cattle Market. The investigation confirmed that the medieval and Civil War outer defences of Shrewsbury ran between the River Severn and the site, and therefore probably underneath Smithfield Road. There is a very slight possibility that a ditch might lie beneath Trenches 1 and 2 as water entered the trenches before the alluvial silts could be revealed, and tip lines could suggest infill of a deep feature, but the same pattern of tipping was found in trenches that were taken down to the old ground surface of the floodplain. This suggests that it is more likely deposits in Trenches 1 and 2 formed part of a general raising in level of the floodplain in this area, although elswhere it has been difficult to identify the town ditch because the silt fills are so similar to floodplain alluvium and buried beneath substantial levelling/reclamation material. <4>

A programme of archaeological monitoring was undertaken by Jo Barnes, Conservation Officer, SABC in association with rebuilding of the section of rebuilt town walls adjacent to Severn Terrace, as part of emergency repairs. ->

-> Upon reduction it was revealed that the wall comprised a single skin of large Grinsall blocks of stone with the occasional reused medieval stone, which remained unbonded with the core of the wall behind. When exposed it was clear that the wall core was of a rubble construction set in incredibly hard lime mortar and containing no identifiable Medieval or post-Medieval masonry. In fact it was clear that the outer skin of the wall dated to the early nineteenth century as there were numerous glass sherds incorporated within the wall mortar which dated to this period. ->

-> However it is likely that the core of the wall which remained uncharacteristically unbonded with the outer skin was earlier in date. On the basis of cartographic evidence it is apparent that the current line of the wall was established before the mid-eighteenth century. The depiction of the wall circuit in 1746 shows a clear kink approaching the corner and the acute angle, which is visible today. On reflection it is possible that the kink was introduced to complete the circuit around the derelict remains of the Garewald’s tower. This in turn could suggest that the current line was established during the construction of the New Town Wall in 1645 when the integrity of the town’s defences was of paramount importance. <5>

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 stretch is identified as 2b. ->

-> There is sandstone masonry revetting the riverside on the site Garewald’s Tower (PRN 01446), although this appears to be of later post-medieval date. Otherwise there are no above ground remains of the defences here on this section. The wall between Garewald’s Tower and Gilbert’s Tower (PRN 01457) was an outwork of medieval date, probably built after the original 13th century wall, defending the former site of a ford just upstream. The wall was extended from Gilbert’s Tower to the Welsh Bridge during the Civil War (PRN 62423). <6>

<01> Hobbs J L, 1954, Street Names of Shrewsbury, p107 (Monograph). SSA365.

<02> Baker Nigel J, UAD Analysis, 18/06/1997 (SMR comment). SSA20432.

<03> Appleton-Fox Nic, 2000, The Town Walls, Smithfield Rd, Shrewsbury: a report on an archaeological evaluation (Excavation report). SSA20851.

<04> Hayes L, 2012, Premier Inn Shrewsbury: archaeological excavation report (Excavation report). SSA24083.

<05> Barnes Jo, 2000, Building Archaeology in Shrewsbury (Archaeological fieldwork report). SSA28097.

<06> Hannaford Hugh R, 2015, Shrewsbury Town Walls: a conservation management plan (2 volumes), Gazetteer 2b (Management report). SSA28223.

Sources

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