Beverley's town walls are a sequence of defensive structures built around the town of
Beverley
Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...
in the
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
History
In the early medieval period, the town of Beverley was not walled.
A "great ditch", later called Bar Dike, had been built on west side of the town by 1169, and by the 13th century there was a handful of formal gateways to the town:
North Bar, South Bar (later called
Keldgate Bar).
[
In 1322, however the town of Beverley petitioned ]parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, requesting that they be allowed to build a protective town wall.[Turner, p.99.] Beverley had been attacked by the Scots in 1321 during the Wars of Scottish Independence
The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of ...
and been ransomed from the Scots in early 1322. Other than the simple gates and ditches, the town was undefended.[ No action was taken, not least because of lack of interest from the ]Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...
.[ In 1371, prompted by the threat of war with France, a commission examined the problem of Beverley's defences again, once again with little result.][
At the beginning of the 15th century, during the reign of Henry IV, the political situation in England became unstable and further steps were taken to improve Beverley's defences.][ The Town Council had North Bar rebuilt in ]brick
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
between 1409 and 1410, with a portcullis
A portcullis (from Old French ''porte coleice'', "sliding gate") is a heavy vertically-closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications, consisting of a latticed grille made of wood, metal, or a combination of the two, which slides down gr ...
and parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...
s; the work cost £97 11d.[ Chains were bought to block entrances and streets, other gateways repaired with brick and iron, and additional "bars" – long pieces of timber – were acquired to protect the entrances to the town.][ By the time that the ]antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
John Leland visited in 1540, North Bar gate, Keldgate and the recently constructed Newbegin gate were all built in brick.[ These defences were insufficient, however, to prevent rebels entering the town in 1537.][
In the 1640s ]civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
broke out between the supporters of Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
and Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. The defences of Beverley were then reinforced with new ditches, the gatehouses were repaired and a garrison of 900 men guarded the town.[ Once again, these defences were not sufficient and Royalist forces were able to successfully raid the town.][ After the war the defences were neglected and ditches began to be filled in as the town expanded.][ Today only traces of the original ditches and the North Bar gate remain intact; the latter is considered by archaeologists Oliver Creighton and Robert Higham to be the "best surviving example in England of a brick-built town gate". The gatehouse is protected as a grade I ]listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
See also
*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 ...
*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 ...
*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 Wal ...
References
Bibliography
*
*{{cite book, last=Turner, first= Hilary, year= 1971, title=Town Defences in England and Wales, location= London, publisher= John Baker, oclc=463160092
City walls in the United Kingdom
Grade I listed walls
Beverley