Monument Type(s):

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

Summary

This site represents: a town wall of medieval date.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA4831 - 2001 Trial trenching on Town Walls Garage, Shrewsbury by Marches Archaeology (Ref: TWGS01A)
• ESA5979 - 2004 WB at Town Walls Garage, Town Walls, Shrewsbury, Shropshire by Marches Archaeology (Ref: TWGS 04)
• ESA7477 - 2001 DBA of land at Town Walls Garage, Shrewsbury by Nigel Baker
• ESA7590 - 2015 Conservation management survey of the town walls, Shrewsbury, by SCAS

Description

Line of the medieval town wall, south-east from the wall surveyed c.1790 on the new St Chad's site [PRN 62568] up to the surviving tower [PRN 10618]. Included in this stretch are the former Shoplatch Gate [PRN 01450), Wheeler's Tower [PRN 01451] and Cordlode Gate [PRN 01449]. The town wall was associated with the extramural ditch [PRN 62570), which may in fact have been the primary defensive feature constructed. One section of the wall adjacent to Wheeler's Tower was ordered to be demolished in 1745, another in 1782, and 'the walls on the left hand between St John's Hill and Murivance'-in the same general area-were ordered to be taken down in 1783; in 1794 'the road leading from the Crescent to Swan Hill' was widened by lowering the wall-walk to the level of the road and lowering the parapet by four feet [<1>] .

The pre-demolition state of the wall in this area is seen best in the 1739 panoramic view 'Shrewsbury…in the Great Frost' (SRRC), which shows the wall with a crenellated parapet and occasional stepped buttresses on the outer face. Before its demolition, the length of wall between St John's Hill and Swan Hill had a street on both sides (back, and front, over the infilled ditch): this can be seen on Rocque's map of 1746, and is a feature also referred to by Blakeway (see PRN 01451 for ref.) <2>

A desk-based assessment was undertaken on the Town Walls Garage site, on the other side of the road from the line of the town wall. A target programme of archaeological evaluation was recommended. <3>

Subsequent to the desk-based assessment [<3>], a watching brief was carried out in 2001 on excavations in conjunction with proposed plans to develop the site of Town Walls Garage, Shrewsbury for residential use. A trench excavated in the car park of the garage disclosed a medieval ploughsoil and a ditch running parallel to the line of the town wall which was also of medieval date. From the evidence available the site was not developed until the 19th century and no evidence for the burials reportedly seen by Leighton in 1887 in the vicinity was observed (see PRN 60335). <4>

Subsequent to the watching brief and trial trenching carried out in 2001 [<4>], a watching brief was carried out in 2004 on groundworks associated with the development of the Town Walls garage. The watching brief found extensive areas of the same cultivated soil sequence with occasional medieval pits and early post-medieval pits suggesting the site was part of backplot land. A small part of a very deep and extensive feature in the south-west corner of the site may have been associated with settlement of the site, but the groundworks were not deep or extensive enough to allow any firm conclusion. The site was probably not formally developed until the late 18th century. There was no evidence for the burials reportedly found in 1887. <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 10 b/f/g, running between the site of the Cordlode Gate (PRN 01449) at the end of Swan Hill, along to No 22 Town Walls. There are three stretches of upstanding masonry wall on this section, and it also includes the only surviving mural tower, Wingfield’s Tower (PRN 10618). ->

-> The line of the town wall from the site of the Cordlode Gate to No. 31 Town Walls runs beneath the road, but along the frontage of Nos. 28 – 31 it is visible as asonry on the street side of the access wells to the basement levels of these terraced properties. In some of the wells the masonry has been painted blue-grey, in some it is
unpainted and can be seen to be of red sandstone construction; it is almost certainly town wall. The wall may survive below ground in front of No. 27 Town Walls, next to which stands Wingfields Tower, the only surviving mural tower on the town defences. <6>

<01> Anon, 1911/ 1912, The Gates: Shrewsbury Town Walls and Towers, p98-99, 24/04/1912 (Article in serial). SSA10638.

<02> Baker Nigel J, UAD Analysis (SMR comment). SSA20432.

<03> Baker Nigel J, 2001, An archaeological assessment of the Town Walls Garage, Shrewsbury (Deskbased survey report). SSA27851.

<04> Appleton-Fox Nic, 2001, Town Walls Garage, Town Walls, Shrewsbury, Shropshire: a report on an archaeological watching brief [really an evaluation] (Archaeological fieldwork report). SSA20844.

<05> Tavener Nick et 4 al, 2005, Town Walls Garage, Town Walls, Shrewsbury: an Archaeological watching brief (Watching brief report). SSA22377.

<06> Hannaford Hugh R, 2015, Shrewsbury Town Walls: a conservation management plan (2 volumes), Gazetteer 10 b/f/g (Management report). SSA28223.

Sources

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