|
Home
About
Philip Davis
About
the
Federation
List
of Fortifications and Castles
|
|
Launceston Town Wall
Also known
as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Dunheved
In the
civil parish of Launceston.
In the historic county of Cornwall (Modern
Authority of Cornwall, 1974 county of
Cornwall).
Small
section and south gate of C13 stone wall survive. Gate is Grade 1
listed, walls Grade 2*.
This site
has been described as a Urban Defence. Town walls, banks and gates.
Those built by the Romans, Anglo-Saxons or Danes are mentioned if they
were maintained, at least partly, during the period 1000-1600. As with
most fortifications of the period these were not simply defensive but
reflected social status. Ambitious town leaders would petition for and
build walls for the personally and civic kudos. Walls and ditches, or
sometimes just isolated gates, also regulated trade and made
collection of taxes easier. Some villages, in vulnerable areas, had
simple defences of ditches to deter cattle raiders and 'wolves'
(Although I doubt wolves were a real threat to any community at any
time they were believed to be a threat)
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is
Certain.
Major remains.
This site is a Grade 1 listed
building protected by law*. (Images
of England number 369986, 370119)
The
Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX331846
Sources
of information, references and further reading
-
PastScape
number; 437141, 437201, 437217, 437209, 437210, 437224, 437204
-
Web
site links
-
Books
-
Creighton,
O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud:
Tempus) p18, 24, 67, 72, 83, 214, 216, 238, 239-40, 26
Higham, Robert A., 1999, 'Castles, Fortified Houses and
Fortified Towns in the Middle Ages' in Kain, R. and Ravenhill,
W., Historical Atlas of South-West England (University of
Exeter Press) p136-43
Salter, Mike, 1999, The Castles of Devon and Cornwall
(Malvern) p25
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties
(Woodbridge) p18-19
Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences' in
Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain
(CBA Research Report) p92-116
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus)
Vol1 p78
Sheppard, Peter, 1980, The historic towns of Cornwall: an
archaeological survey p75-6
Barley, M.W., 1975, 'Town Defences in England and Wales after
1066' in Barley (ed) Medieval Towns in England and Wales (CBA
research reports) pp57-71
Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales
(London) p197
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England
(Methuen and Co)
Robbins, A.F., 1888, Launceston, Past and Present (Launceston)
Peter, 1885, Histories of Launceston and Dunheved (Plymouth)
p233-9
-
Journal
Articles
-
Antiquarian
(Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern
writers)
-
Speed,
John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain [http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/home/johnspeed/Cities15.htm]
Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in
Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p62, 87-8
Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland
in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London)
Vol1 p325
Most
of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT
open to the public and permission to visit a site must
always be sought from the landowner or tenant
|
The
information on this web page may be derived from information
compiled by and/or copyright of English
Heritage and other individuals and organisations.
|
It
is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without
consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to
remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper
recording and reporting. Don't use metal
detectors on historic sites without authorisation.
|
Please
help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting
me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge
the help I get with this site.
|
|
THE GATEHOUSE 
bravenet.com