Monument Type(s):

• (Former Type) TOWN WALL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

The excavations which took place in 1988 at the foot of the motte opposite the Council Office, revealed the remains of what is believed to be the town wall.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA343 - 1988 survey and excavations on top and at base of motte at Oswestry Castle by Manchester University, Centre for Continuing Education

Description

The excavations which took place in 1988 at the foot of the motte opposite the Council Office, revealed the remains of what is believed to be the town wall. Below the late levelling of the site, the wall exists to at least five courses in height, but had been deliberately levelled above this. Towards the south, and the road, there was a straight sided break in the wall infilled with material believed to be from the rubble core. For safety reasons it was not possible to determine whether the wall existed here at a greater depth, but this break could not be the end of the wall as it has been sighted about five metres south, under the road. We may be looking at an original postern gate, an early break in the wall, or simply a lowering of the wall to a greater depth. The square nature of the break and its position in relation to the castle and the ditch would suggest a postern gate to be the most likely explanation. To the west, or outside the wall, rubble tumble on the edge of the town ditch was overlain by a series of layers of deliberate infilling. To the east, inside the wall, there was little tumble, except in the break in the wall, and the medieval layers were overlain by destruction debris from a much later, probably 18th century, building. <1>

Sources

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