Summary

The site of Gosford Gate, a medieval gatehouse built in about 1355 as part of the defensive circuit around the town. The gate was demolished in 1765.

Monument Type(s):

• DRAWBRIDGE (Later Medieval to 18th Century - 1355 AD? to 1765 AD)
• GATEHOUSE (Later Medieval to 18th Century - 1355 AD to 1765 AD)
• TOWN DEFENCES (Later Medieval to 18th Century - 1355 AD to 1765 AD)

Protected Status

• Conservation Area: Far Gosford Street Conservation Area

Full description

1> Gosford Gate (site).
2> Erected c1355, demolished 1765.
3> Depicted.
4> Lay on main exit to E, was in existence by 1410-11. Removed 1765.
Rectangular, 2-storeyed, with upper floor lit by pointed windows of 1 and 2
lights. 2 circular turrets at parapet level on its outer wall & fo chapel of
St George was attached to its NE corner.

5,6> Gosford Gate is thought to be the second gate to be built, being first New Gate protecting the London Road … on the west side of the River Sherbourne, or Gosford Brook. The Gosford Gate was built on oak piles 4ft 6" in length. In one corner a tree had been cut and sunk in to build some heavy part of the gate on. … This city gate was closed against an attack by Edward IV in 1470. … Part of the wooden drawbridge was found in its original place …
Princess Elizabeth arrived by Gosford Gate in 1605 in the charge of Lord Holcroft.

6> Eight piles of oak … 4ft 6" to 6ft were found at the same depth, supporting the buttress of the Gate, also two beams, although swan off which once formed the support of the drawbridge. … The piles and beams had been used in some former building, possibly a Norman or Saxon house … [Shelton kept these]. …[attacked] again in 1644 fears were entertained when men and women were fetched in haste even on a Sunday to dig trenches for protection for the Gate and another stream was made at a distance from the Gate where Dover Bridge later stood. Gosford Gate was taken down in 1765.

7> Map and references.

8> Gosford Street descends to the River Sherbourne where Gosford Gate, St. George's Chapel and two bridges once stood. The position of the gate is marked in the roadway and the line of the town wall in the adjacent premises. A large plaque at the site gives more information.

9> Gosford Gate was probably constructed in the late 14th century (known to exist by 1411), the second of the twelve to be built. Earlier defensive 'bars' existed east of the bridges, near Shut Lane, and at the west end of Gosford Street. The walls may well not have followed until some years later…The gate was one of the stations for the Coventry Mystery Plays, where the shearmen and tailors performed their pageant; they held their secular meetings in the room above the gate…In 1643…deep trenches were made beofre several gates, including Gosford Gate, and 'half moons' were made without three of them and drawbridges set up. In 1645 new defences were dug, creating a strong outwork without Gosford Gate, encompassed by the River Sherbourne…Gosford Gate was demolished in 1765.

<1> 1961, OS 1:2500, - (-MAP). SCT813.

<2> Nowell C, 1924, Some Account of the Gates, Towers, and Wall of the City of Coventry, - (--MONOGRAPH). SCT650.

<3> Speed, John, 1610, Map of Coventry, - (-MAP). SCT807.

<4> Pugh, R. B. (ed), 1969, Victoria County History: A History of the County of Warwickshire - Volume VIII, 8: 22-3 (--VOLUME). SCT683.

<5> J. B. Shelton, 1949, The Story of Twenty-Two Years Excavations in Coventry, p.4 (-MANUSCRIPT). SCT1614.

<6> Austin's Monthly Magazine of Instructive and Useful Information, 1932-1939, Extracts from "Austin's Monthly Magazine" of articles written by Mr J.B. Shelton 1932 - 1938, Vol. XXV No. 305 (--ARTICLE). SCT1615.

<7> Coventry City Council, 2004, Far Gosford Street Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Policy Framework (-MANUSCRIPT). SCT1650.

<8> Coventry City Council, 1993, Coventry City Centre Trail (TEXT). SCT1983.

<9> City Development Directorate, 2000, Far Gosford Street: Historical Notes, p.4-5 (-MANUSCRIPT). SCT1592.

Sources and Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• ECT441 - Field observations at Gosford Street Gate site 1932
• ECT680 - Conservation Management Plan Condition Survey for Medieval Defences

Related records

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

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