Sheep Gate on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Sheep Gate is a
The Sheep Gate is the only surviving gate of five that once provided access to Trim. The
The gate was the southeastern entrance to the town, and is located just north of the
town gate
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
in Trim
Trim or TRIM may refer to:
Cutting
* Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them
** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process
** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees
Decoration
* Trim (sewing), or ...
, Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. It is a National Monument
A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure.
The term may also refer to a spec ...
.
History
The Sheep Gate is the only surviving gate of five that once provided access to Trim. The town wall
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
and its gates were built in the 13th or 14th century. Sheep Gate may have been so named as a toll was charged here for sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
being brought in to be sold at market: in 1290, the 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 ...
and pavage
Pavage was a medieval toll for the maintenance or improvement of a road or street in medieval England, Wales and Ireland. The king by letters patent granted the right to collect it to an individual, or the corporation of a town, or to the "bailif ...
tax was one penny per ten sheep, reduced to a farthing
Farthing or farthings may refer to:
Coinage
*Farthing (British coin), an old British coin valued one quarter of a penny
** Half farthing (British coin)
** Third farthing (British coin)
** Quarter farthing (British coin)
*Farthing (English coi ...
in 1308. The name could also derive from the archaic meaning of cheap
Cheap may refer to:
*Cheapness
* ''Cheap'' (album), debut album from Seasick Steve
*Cheap (ward), London, UK
*Flatwoods, Kentucky, previously known as Cheap
See also
*Cheapskate
A miser is a person who is reluctant to spend, sometimes to th ...
, meaning "market" (cf. Cheapside
Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where ...
). This name is not recorded before the 19th century; it may have been known as the Porch Gate, possibly from French ''porte'' ("door"), which may also give its name to the Porch Fields
The Porch Fields is an area of medieval farmland outside Trim, Ireland with a medieval roadway that forms a National Monument.
Location
The Porch Fields are a green area in Trim, located on the north bank of the River Boyne, between the old ...
lying outside the city walls. The gate was locked between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m.
The gate
The gate was the southeastern entrance to the town, and is located just north of the River Boyne
The River Boyne ( ga, An Bhóinn or ''Abhainn na Bóinne'') is a river in Leinster, Ireland, the course of which is about long. It rises at Trinity Well, Newberry Hall, near Carbury, County Kildare, and flows towards the Northeast through C ...
. Sheep Gate survives as a stone archway.
References
{{Reflist National Monuments in County Meath Trim, County Meath City gates