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Monument Types

• TOWN WALL (MEDIEVAL - 1066 AD to 1539 AD (between))
• TOWN WALL (POST MEDIEVAL - 1540 AD to 1900 AD (between))

Associated Events

• Riverside revetment wall, South Quay (Ref: WCM100542)
• South Quay (Ref: WCM100721)

Full description

Medieval city wall, line of; component of the medieval city defences, WCM 96100.

Considerable doubt exists as to the form of the city wall in the area of the Quay. Speed’s map of 1610 shows it running discontinuously, with three gaps, from the north end of the Quay to Warmstry Slip, between the waterfront and the block of housing developing in the middle of the Quay. The 1651 map (various editions) shows the wall continuous south from the waterworks tower (WCM 96079) to the bottom of Copenhagen Street, where there is a gap, after which it is shown continuing without interruption across the bottom of Warmstry Slip and thence south towards the cathedral. The wall across the Quay is shown as projecting forward of the general line; this section may have been a short-lived feature of the Civil War. No wall at all is shown on any of the 18th-century maps in this area: Broad’s map of 1768 shows it terminating at the City Waterworks and resuming on the south side of Warmstry Slip.

The Buck Brothers’ south-west Prospect (1732) adds to the cartographic record. It shows no sign of the wall across the Quay, which is presented as a raised platform projecting forward into the river. On the south corner of Copenhagen Street they show a large ?stone building aligned north-south, its west wall built up from the riverside wall. This building extends half-way to Warmstry Slip; beyond it is a retaining wall, on the city wall line, which appears to return up the north side of Warmstry Slip. The riverside retaining (city) wall resumes south of Warmstry Slip but on a line set back to the east, further inland (WCM 96128). Many of these details are amplified in the painting 'Worcester from the Severn' by William Marlow (1740-1813) {1}.

Richardson (1957) was also in doubt as to the state of the wall in this area. He quoted Willis-Bund’s opinion that there was always a gap of 300-400 yards at the Quay and noted Speed’s version. He also asserted that the section of the wall between Copenhagen Street and Warmstry Slip ‘was certainly modified later still (i.e. post-Speed) to help form either a warehouse or dwellings’. He also noted that ‘The present wall along South Quay and between the bottom of Warmstry Slip and Copenhagen Street marks the line of the wall and the basal blocks of red sandstone at the southern end may be the remains of the original wall in situ’ {2}. This section of wall is still visible above ground, having formed the base of the west elevation of a building used for a Sunday School in the 19th century (1st ed. O.S. 1:500 plan). (WCM 96098)

Cross-reference to: 96126, City Wall, line of, Bar Gate – The Quay
Cross-reference to: 96305, South Quay

Sources and further reading

Related records

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