| HER Number (PRN): | 00495 |
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| Name: | Site of Beatrice Gate, Oswestry |
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| Type of Record: | Monument |
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| Protected Status: | Conservation Area: Oswestry |
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Monument Type(s):
- TOWN GATE (Demolished 1782, Medieval to Late 18th century - 1066 AD to 1782 AD)
- TOLL GATE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1901 AD)
Summary
Built in the early C15 by Earl of Arundel. Illustrations show a single arched structure without projecting bastions, fronted by a bridge over the town ditch. Demolished in 1782.
| Parish: | Oswestry, Oswestry, Shropshire |
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| Map Sheet: | SJ22NE |
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| Grid Reference: | SJ 2922 2984 |
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Related records
| 00493 | Part of: Oswestry town defences (Monument) |
Associated Finds: None recorded
Associated Events: None recorded
Description
The site of the gate is unmarked save for a plaque on the south-west corner of the cross-roads, between Castle Street and Beatrice Street, inscribed "Site of Beatrice Gate (Removed 1782) in 13th Century Town Wall. Oswestry District Civic Society, 1972". There are no pillars now marking the site. <1><1a>
Built in the early C15 by Earl of Arundel. Illustrations show a single arched structure without projecting bastions, fronted by a bridge over the town ditch. There are shallow pilaster buttresses at some distance to each side of the arch. The plan, probably a proposal for restoration in 1771 (see PRN 00494) indicates chambers flanking the entrance passage. The drawings are copied from Price's History of Oswestry and private papers. Demolished in 1782 <2>
The location of the gate is deduced from the map reproduced in 1885 <3>
North East gate - street called Bettridge Street c1550-1770. Also Beterich and Baderickes/ Baderish Gate <4>
Beatrice Gate was named after the daughter of the King of Portugal, the wife of Thomas, Earl of Arundel, who built the gate in the time of Henry IV (1399-1413). It bore a coat of arms which is thought to have been those of Beatrice of Portugal. The gate was demolished in 1782 and pillars erected on the site. <2><3><4>
Said to have been built in late C12th or early C15th, depending on identification of 'Beatrice'. The gate was in poor repair in 1737 and demolished in 1782, and a pillar was erected to mark the spot (removed in 1881) <5>
CMHTS Record Sheet <6>
CMHTS Report <7>
Beatrice Gate remained standing for many years after the stretches of town wall joining them had been demolished. This was because they served as convenient toll barriers. In Feburuary 1781 permission was finally secured to demolish the gate. two commemorative pillars were set up on site of the gate but have since been removed to Castle Bank where they flank the entrance steps to the former castle motte. <8>
Sources
| [00] | SSA20722 - Card index: Shropshire County Council SMR. Site and Monuments Record (SMR) cards. SMR record cards. SMR Card for PRN SA 00495. |
| [01] | SSA2127 - Card index: Ordnance Survey. 1977. Ordnance Survey Record Card SJ22NE25.1. Ordnance Survey record cards. SJ22NE25.1. |
| [01a] | SSA31554 - Site visit report: Ordnance Survey Field Investigator. Various. NRHE: Ordnance Survey Field Investigators Comments. F1 ASP 05-OCT-79. |
| [02] | SSA2117 - Volume: Anon. 1882. Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society. Transactions Shropshire Archaeol Hist Soc. Ser 1, Vol V (=Vol 5). p162-165. |
| [03] | SSA2124 - Volume: Anon. 1885. Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society. Transactions Shropshire Archaeol Hist Soc. Ser 1, Vol VIII (=Vol 8). p49. |
| [04] | SSA2128 - Article in serial: Roberts A. 1885. The Four Gateways of Oswestry. Trans Shropshire Archaeol Hist Soc. Ser 1, Vol VIII (=Vol 8). p145-186. |
| [05] | SSA1554 - Monograph: Watkin I. 1920. Oswestry with an Account of its Old Houses, Shops, etc, and Some of their Occupants. p319-320. |
| [06] | SSA19971 - Record form: Dalwood Hal. 1993/ 1996. CMHTS SMR Records Shropshire: Oswestry. Central Marches Historic Towns Survey record form. Vol 8. Oswestry 495. |
| [07] | SSA12079 - Historic landscape survey report: Dalwood Hal et al. 1996. Archaeological Assessment of Oswestry, Shropshire (CMHTS). Hereford & Worcester CAS Rep. Rep 333. |
| [08] | SSA2115 - Archaeological fieldwork report: Pratt D. 1980. Oswestry Town Wall. Border Counties Archaeol Gp Rep. pp.4-7; pp.22-24. |
| Date Last Edited: | Jul 14 2021 7:46AM |
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