More information : Oxford City Walls COMPONENTS NOS COMPONENTS NOSBASTION 226 EAST GATE, Site of 238BASTION, Site of 227 BASTIONS, Sites of 239BASTION, Site of 228 BASTIONS, BASTION, Site of, BASTION 229 Postern. 240BASTION 230 GATE 241BASTIONS, Sites of 231 POSTERN 242BASTION, Site of 232 GATE 243BASTION 233 STERN, Site of 244BASTION, Site of 234 GATE 245BASTIONS 235 SMYTHGATE 246OUTER FORTIFICATIONS 236 TURL GATE 247SOUTH GATE, site of. 249
SP50NW113 1.[Name centred SP517706464] SITE OF CITY DITCH. CITY WALL [GT]
2. Oxford City Wall enclosed an area of about 110-120 acres: of rougly rectangular form.
D.A.period There is some evidence that the town had defences before the conquest, possibly of earth and timber - the enclosure is referred to in the Domesday book.
Md.period It is probable that the defences were restored & strengthened soon after the Conquest. It would seem possible that at some period the town extended little, if at all, beyond Catte St. towards the E., but the present wall line has not been altered since 1100. Some re-building took place between 1226-1240 when bastions were added, & the earthern bank was removed. In 1371 the king ordered the ditch to be cleaned & the walls repaired. From C.1350 the wall was encroached on by buildings etc. The condition of the section on & bounding the New College site is good, - of the rest; fragmentary. (1939)(1) Excavations, (1949) [SP51910643] confirm that at least this part of the city wall (N.E. Sector) was constructed in stone for the first time during the second quarter of the 13th. Cent.(2) Earlier excavations were carried out [Centred at SP51540644] 1938 4 & 1899a. During the 1938 excavation a wall was traced running N.E from bastion 8 [113.7] towards Smythgate [113.21] [This does not agree with the course shown by the OS 25"sht.] Below the wall to the W. were foundations of an earlier wall which appeared to curve to the S.1 The city ditch here appears to have been open 13th- to early 16th Cent.(4) The city ditch has also been exposed [at SP51200628] where late 11th cent. pottery was fd in silting:2.3 also [at SP51130632 & SP 51250637.](5) 2. The conjectural course of the wall shown in 25"sht 39.3 between South Gate [113.24] to the poss. bastion [113.23] cuts through the centre of the 13th. Cent Dorter & chapter House of the former priory. It appears to be unlikely that a structure would have been built across the City Wall at such an early date. The R.C.A.H.M. Vol. 'Oxford' suggests that the wall ran from bastion 21 [113.15] "..S. to enclose the priory buildings ... the line [of the wall] was no doubt extended to include the monastic buildings of St. Fridiswides when it was established ..."1 In view of this it would seen possible that the true course of the wall was further south; & indeed the civil war plan of Oxford, 1644 2, shows the wall running south from bastion 21 some 65m, which, whilst contradicting the position shown by the 25" would enable an E-W wall to enclose the priory (1-7)
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