Abergavenny's town walls are a sequence of
defensive walls built around the town of
Abergavenny in
Monmouthshire,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
.
History
After the
Norman invasion of Wales
The Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman conquest of England under William the Conqueror, who believed England to be his birthright. Initially (1067–1081), the invasion of Wales was not undertaken with the fervour and purpose ...
in the 11th century, a
castle was built at Abergavenny; this included a relatively small, walled town.
[Creighton and Higham, pp.158-159.] This town had a rectangle of wooden walls, protected by a "V" shaped ditch, stopping just short of the modern Cross Street.
[Clarke and Bray, pp.187-188.] In the 12th century this ditch was filled in, possibly because of a pressure on land in the town, and the town of Abergavenny then appears to have lacked any defences until the late 13th century.
In the late 13th century a larger town wall was built around Abergavenny in stone, forming an oval shape, approximately 350 m by 215 m across. The wall was paid for and maintained by
murage
Murage was a medieval toll for the building or repair of town walls in England, Wales and Ireland.
Origin
The term ''murage'', while having this specific meaning, could also refer to other aid for walls or to the walls themselves. It is generally ...
, by which the king allowed a city to raise taxes on the imports of particular goods.
By the 21st century, only occasional masonry remains of the medieval walls, although the line of the wall can be seen in the form of later buildings and walls.
See also
*
List of town walls in England and Wales
This list of town walls in England and Wales describes the fortified walls built and maintained around these towns and cities from the 1st century AD onwards. The first town walls were built by the Romans, following their conquest of Britain ...
*
Chester city walls
Chester city walls consist of a defensive structure built to protect the city of Chester in Cheshire, England. Their construction was started by the Romans when they established the fortress of Deva Victrix between 70 and 80 E It originat ...
*
York city walls
York has, since Roman times, been defended by walls of one form or another. To this day, substantial portions of the walls remain, and York has more miles of intact wall than any other city in England. They are known variously as York City Wa ...
References
Bibliography
*Clarke, Stephen and Jane Bray. (2003) "The Norman town defences of Abergavenny," ''Medieval Archaeology'' Vol. 27, pp. 186–189.
*Creighton, Oliver Hamilton and Robert Higham. (2005)
Medieval Town Walls: an Archaeology and Social History of Urban Defence.' Stroud, UK: Tempus. .
{{coord, 51.8211, N, 3.0185, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
City walls in the United Kingdom
Abergavenny
Grade II listed buildings in Monmouthshire