MONUMENT NO. 204122

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Medieval town and town defences. The Medieval defences re-used the line of the Roman defences. Parts of the town wall are extant. The walls were extant in 1138 and were removed in the C18th. The medieval town covered 23 acres.

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(ST 7564 - OS 1:10000 1973)
Bath was in Saxon occupation before 577 and continued until the C12. A mint was established c. 824 and a nunnery was founded in the late 7th century. (1-2) The town is listed in the Burghal Hidage. (3).

The medieval town of Bath occupied a polygonal area of c.23 acres
enclosed by a stone wall and outer ditch. It is generally accepted
that the course of the wall followed the line of the Roman defences
(ST 76 SE 32). This has been proved in places by recent excavations
and its course can be established with some accuracy. (4)

The name 'rampire' was applied to walks along the inside of the city
wall. (5)

The medieval town is poorly documented and most of the walls, gates
and churches were swept away during the C18 rebuilding of the city
(For details see map diagrams) (6)

ST 750648 - ST 752647 City Wall, scheduled, 114 (7)

Additional reference (8)

From the pentagonal plan of the city it has been suggested that the
medieval walls were built on the foundations of the Roman city wall
(a). Until recently no serious investigation of this theory had been
made except for the observations of Pownall in 1795 during commercial
excavations in the Upper Borough Walls. (b). He claimed to have seen
the medieval wall superimposed on the remains of the Roman city wall
and described it in detail. His theory was contested by Irvine in
1874 (c), but cannot be lightly dismissed.

Several fragments of the medieval wall still survive. The East Gate
(ST 76 SE 104) is the only remaining gateway. The length of wall
opposite the Mineral Water Hospital is largely a reconstruction of
the medieval wall. By far the best length, over 160ft, could until
1963 be seen on the site cleared by an air-raid in 1940. This was the
SE corner of the medieval city. The remains of this wall now lie
buried below the floor of the new Woolworths store.

By the end of the C18 the wall had become the back walls of tenement
houses built on the line of the city ditch. The course of the city
wall today is identified by the streets known as the Lower and Upper
Borough Walls. Until recent years the N, S, and W walls were known as
the 'Rampires'. It is not known when the walls were built. The Saxon
defences probably consisted of a bank and ditch, possibly
incorporating the remains of the Roman wall. Domesday Book, 1086,
makes no reference to fortifications at Bath. The next mention of the
defences occurs in 1138, by which time the walls had been built. King
Stephen ordered them to be heightened and outworks constructed.

The medieval city wall was located during excavations in 1951 by the
Bath and Camerton Archaeological Society, and in 1961 by Michael Owen
(see Illustration Card for plan) (9)

Limited excavations, 1965, along the approximate line of the city
wall at Harvey's Building, Upper Borough Walls. Post medieval cellars
were found to have destroyed virtually all the medieval and earlier
stratigraphy. (10)

ST 751649: In 1980 excavations took place on the N city walls of Bath
adjacent to the site of the North Gate. A Roman wall survived into
the late Saxon period when outworks were constructed on the revetted lip of the re-cut ditch. These outworks were re-built, probably in
stone, at some time during the late Saxon or Norman periods. Of
approximately the same period was a massive ditch re-cut in which the
stagnant water deposits of the late medieval 'Frogmere' were to
accumulate. The outworks were demolished in the C13 but their
alignment survived in the positions of boundary ditches. (See Illustration Card). The excavations show one defensive alignment to
have been retained through the alterations of several periods.
Continuity of the Roman alignment into the medieval period has been
suggested elsewhere in the circuit. (11)

Additional reference (see Illustration Card) (12)

City Walls, remains of, formerly listed as City Wall, Manvers Place.
AM. Grade II. (13)

(ST 74866480) St Michael's Rampire [NR] (course of) [NAT]
(ST 74926463) St James's Rampire [NR] (course of) [NAT]
(ST 74986459) City Wall [NR] (course of) [NAT]
(ST 75036458) City Wall [NR] (course of) [NAT]
(ST 75156462) City Wall [NR] (remains of) [NAT]
(ST 75206470) Ditch [NR] (course of) [NAT]
(ST 75216481) City Wall [NR] (course of) [NAT] (14)

(Upper Borough Walls shown as 'St Mary's Rampire' - OS county series,
Somerset XIV, 5,1 936) Additional references (15-16)

The Roman defences (ST 76 SE 32) were strengthened and manned by a
militia under one of the early acts of the Wessex kings. During the
medieval period the walls were repaired or robbed, depending on the
threat of attack. (17)

Sections of city wall observed at the Fernley Hotel. (18)

Diagram showing the proportion of medieval defences extant or
recorded (see Illustration Card). (19)

Extant fragment of city wall at ST 75226478. (20)

ST 74926488: At 3 Trim Street, a small trench was excavated through
the upper deposits of the city ditch, 1986, Bath Archaeological
Trust.

ST 74886486: Excavations by the Trust at Broadleys Vaults PH,
Upper Borough Walls, revealed upper extent of the city ditch and a
section of the city wall. (21)

In 1066 Bath is a borough with 20 hides. In 1500 Bath is
incorporated. (22)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) a revised translation by Dorothy Whitelock 1961 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

1961

( 2) General reference

Bristol Mus list Bath Mint Coins

( 3) General reference

Domesday Bk and Beyond, 1897 (F W Maitland)

( 4) General reference

Bath Excav Committee Notes, 1964 (B Cunliffe)

( 5) General reference

Description of Bath, 1749 (J Wood)

( 6) Field Investigators Comments

F1 JP 26-JUN-66

( 7) Scheduled Monument Notification

DOE (IAM) AMs Eng 2 1977 10

( 8) General reference

Hist of Somerset, 1791, 29-35 (J Collinson)

( 9a) Proceedings of the Bath Natural History and Antiquarian Society

(H Lewis) 4 - 1881 Page(s)138-49

( 9b) General reference

A Particular Description, 1795, 27 (T Pownall) - Bath Ancient and Modern, 1864, 100-102 (J Earle)

( 9c) General reference

Bath Herald 17th Oct 1874 (J Irvine)

( 9) Somerset archaeology and natural history : the proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society

(W Wedlake) 110 - 1966 Page(s)85-107

(10) General reference

CRAAGS Excav Rpt 1 1979 - Excavations in Bath 1950-75, 86-87, 131, 133-135, figs (B Cunliffe)

(11) Medieval archaeology : journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology

(T O'Leary) 25 - 1981 Page(s)1-28

(12) edited by Jeremy Haslam 1984 Anglo-Saxon towns in southern England

(B Cunliffe) 1984 Page(s)345-58

(13) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

DOE (HHR) City of Bath, Avon, 1972, 146,198

(14) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 1:1250 1967

(15) Bath history

(S Bird) 1 - 1986 Page(s)139-42

(16) General reference

Map of Bath, 1694 (J Gilmore)

(17) by Barry Cunliffe 1986 The city of Bath

(B Cunliffe) 1986 Page(s)53-4,78-9

(18) by Barry Cunliffe ...[et al] 1969 Roman Bath

Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of LondonNo.1 (1913) - (B Cunliffe) NO.24 - 1969 Page(s)173-5

(19) General reference

Plan of Med Town Defences, 1988 (Bath Arch Trust)

(20a) Externally held archive reference

Plan 138 Bath Ref Library, Alfred J Taylor, 4th June 1913

(20) Externally held archive reference

Info and Plan from Elizabeth Holland and Mike Chapman, Survey of Old Bath, 1988

(21) Externally held archive reference

Info from Peter Davenport, Senior Field Officer, Bath Arch Trust, 1988

(22) M W Beresford and H P R Finberg 1973 English medieval boroughs : a hand-list

Page(s)154

(23) Council for British Archaeology CBA research reports

Medieval Towns in England and Wales (ed) Barley 14 - 1975 Page(s)58-9

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EAST GATE
BATH

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The east gate of the Medieval town defences

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