Monument Type(s):

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

Summary

Line of the town wall, north from Pride Hill Chambers [PRN 62361] to the Raven Hotel 'tower' [PRN 01461].

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA1309 - 1978 excavation
• ESA3572 - 1987 WB on the construction of the Charles Darwin Shopping Centre, Shrewsbury by BUFAU
• ESA3573 - 1987 Shaft inspection during 1987 WB on Darwin Centre construction by BUFAU
• ESA3752 - 1963 WB on construction of Woolworths by Philip Barker
• ESA4838 - 1997 Evaluation at Raven Meadows, Shrewsbury by SCCAS
• ESA6875 - 2012 DBA, building recording and trial excavation at 14 Pride Hill, Shrewsbury by Richard K Morriss & Associates
• ESA7590 - 2015 Conservation management survey of the town walls, Shrewsbury, by SCAS
• ESA9455 - 2020 DBA and building survey of 'The Gap Site' (Raven Meadows) and 14 Pride Hill, Shrewsbury by Richard K Morriss (Ref: 20/05421/FUL)

Description

Line of the town wall, north from Pride Hill Chambers [PRN 62361] to the Raven Hotel 'tower' [PRN 01461]. Town wall fabric was glimpsed on this line at the rear of 23-24 Pride Hill during underpinning work, and the town wall was certainly present among the remains reported on PRN 60078 (24-26 Pride Hill). Speed's map of 1610 bears the legend 'the town wall built upon with houses' in this area. The 1st ed. O.S. shows it clearly as a continuous terrace clear of buildings c.38m from the frontage of Castle Street, with buttresses and steps down the outer face <1>

A programme of desk-based assessment, historic building analysis and trial excavation was carried out at 14 Pride Hill, in association with proposals for redevelopment. ->

-> The postulated line of town wall ran through the area where a bridge link was proposed as part of the development scheme (centred on SJ 4918 1261). A small 1m by 1m trench was excavated here to ascertain the likely survival of any deposits associated with the town wall. A set of sandstone masonry steps was recorded, beneath a layer of 20th century dumping deposits, directly on the alignment of those shown on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map. ->

-> What had been exposed were five steps – the treads of the three lower ones exposed completely, the one above identified by a small horizontal ‘adit’ of careful excavation in the loose fill beneath the concrete cap above which also exposed the riser of the fifth step. The treads were single blocks of grey sandstone – probably from Grinshill - and relatively unworn, the tooling still quite evident in the risers. To either side the stones were flanked by sections of hand-made red bricks. ->

-> A date from the late-18th century or the early 19th century was suggested. The steps must have been supported on a substrate or footings which would have been even deeper set, and it seems that significant archaeological deposits, if surviving, would be even deeper. There were no significant finds or any complex phasing. It is still likely that the excavation was in the vicinity of the line of the medieval town wall, but nothing of it was encountered at the levels that still survive in the Pride Hill Chambers at No.12 Pride Hill. Any surviving sections are probably quite deep and presumably associated with the footings of the wall rather than any of its superstructure. <2>

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 of wall is identified as 3g. <3>

Philip Barker in 1963 noted the lowest courses of the town wall during a watching brief on the Woolworth's store site on Pride Hill (ESA 3752). <4>

Sources

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