NHER 384 (Monument record) - Norwich City Defences

Precinct number.
'The land of the ditches which is between the wood and the water'.
City walls. Built around 1294-1343.
No houses built outside wall until 1779 - 89.
E. B. Green (NCM).

See full details in file.

Material received from Alan Carter archive.
1968: (S1) Photographs showing views of the wall in Barn Road, Fiskers Lane, Chapel Field Road and St. Stephen's Gate.

1975: Detailed information on the city walls and gates. (S2) and (S3) detail repairs made to the city walls and gates from 1590 onwards, including information on the materials used in the repairs and the sources of these materials. (S4), (S22) and (S23) look at the Black Tower, Carrow Hill and Butter Hill. (S5) is a more detailed write up of the city gates: Conisford Gates, Brazon Gates, St Stephen's Gate, St Giles's Gate, St Benedict's Gate, Heigham Gates, St Martin-at-Oak Gates, St Augustine's Gates, Magdalen Gates, Pockthorpe Gates and Bishop Gate. (S6) is some brief notes on the Cow Tower.
See information in file.
K. Robbins (NLA), 26 October 2008.

The western Boom Tower contains what was thought to be a 19th-century coke oven. This has now been re-dated as 18th century and is an important early example. See published article (S7) for a detailed description of this oven, which is also noted in (S24).
Previously listed Grade II* this structure remains part of the Norwich city walls Scheduled Monument. See English Heritage assessment notes (S25).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 29 October 2015.

1991-1992. Building Survey.
Surveys of the city defenses between Bracondale and the River Wensum, prior to consolidation works.
Three stretches of wall and a tower were examined.
See report (S26)/(S27) for further details. This work is noted in (S30).
P. Watkins (HES), 9 November 2015.

1995. Building Survey.
Survey of Black Tower by R. Smith (NAU).
This indicates evidence for former vault on central pier in ground floor; restoration work in 19th century to remove traces of 18th century snuff mill; and notes that this tower and that down the slope to the east both have arrowslits facing the city, which author suggests may indicate there was originally no wall between them. Traditionally this tower was the residence of the Constable and was also used for plague victims in the 16th century - neither of these aspects figure in the report.
See report (S8) for further details. This survey is also noted in (S28).
E. Rose (NLA) 24 July 1996.

2 August 1995. NLA air photography.
Stretches of the city wall, Black Tower and Boom Tower all visible.
S. Massey (NLA) 3 August 2001.

July 1997. Excavation.
Excavation at Chapelfield Road/Coburg Street (former) to assess condition of wall foundation revealed a layer containing post medieval brick apparently passing under wall and bank. Is this part of the rebuilding of 1727?
See report (S9) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S29).
The associated archive has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2008.63).
E. Rose (NLA) 10 September 1997. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 27 April 2019.

Reference (S10) notes that St Augustines, Conesford and Bishops Gates were blocked up with earth in the Civil War until 1643. Seven earth bulwarks were planned along the wall and a breastwork along the river from the Boom Tower to the Cow Tower, but these were probably never constructed.
E. Rose (NLA) 5 November 1998.

April 1999. Building Survey.
Detailed survey of section of city wall and tower adjacent to Bull Close Road.
This work was commissioned by Norwich City Council and was intended as a pilot study for a much more extensive detailed survey of the Norwich city walls.
See report (S31) and project synopsis (S32) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 October 2017.

1999-2002. Building Survey.
This survey of the Norwich city walls followed on from the pilot survey undertaken in April 1999.
The results of this survey are presented by website (S34), which includes a detailed report, photographs and a Conservation Plan for each surviving section of the defences.
P. Watkins (HES), 24 May 2024.

May-June 1999. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of renovation works at 218-242 Queen's Road.
This work revealed what seemed to be the city wall but 5m south of the line of the wall as marked by the OS.
See NHER 26147 for further details.
E. Rose (NLA) 4 Jan 1999. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 8 February 2017.

2003. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of a short stretch of the riverside next to the western of the two Boom towers, which refers to the medieval background and construction of the city walls, gates and towers, and to their subsequent history. The Boom Towers, like the rest of the walls, gradually fell out of serious use, becoming monuments in the landscape, valued for their picturesque character and historical interest. They are depicted on maps and recorded in pictures and photographs. Reference is made to these sources. There is a possibility of early medieval evidence on the riverside,although the later history of the site includes brick-built riverside structures, swept away when the present Carrow Bridge was built in 1920, but recorded in pictures and photographs. Archaeological deposits may have been limited since the inside of the walled circuit was deliberately kept open for access in the middle ages, but access to the wall and river could suggest evidence for waterfront structures may have survived.
See report (S11) for further details.
A. Cattermole (NLA) 1 March 2005.

June 2005.
Scheduled monument consent granted concerning masonary repairs to the Chapelfield section of the city wall.
See (S12) for further details
H. White (NLA), 3 April 2009

The Commission of 1385 at the time of the French Invasion ordered that a wall be constructed along the Wensum to fill up the gap in the existing wall; as far as is known, nothing was done
Rose, E. (NLA), 19 March 2007.

July 2006.
Scheduled monument consent granted concerning repairs to brick and flint on the walls.
See (S19)
H. White (NLA), 3 April 2009.

October 2007. Bulls Close Road Section
Scheduled monument consent granted regarding the removal of shrubs, the making good of flint work, face pointing of core and facing work to both sides of the wall. Wall head repairs as necessary.
See (S20)
H. White (NLA) 22 January 2009.

November 2007. Paper Mills Yard
Scheduled monument consent granted concerning repairing two holes in the city wall, removing vegetation from the length of the wall fronting the yard and necessary repointing.
See (S20) for further information
H. White (NLA), 22 January 2009.

December 2007. Magpie Road
Scheduled monument consent granted regarding the demolition of a modern building attached to the monument and repairs and structural support works.
See (S20) for further information
H. White (NLA), 23 January 2009.

March 2008
Scheduled monument consent granted regarding the demoliton and removal of a building attached to the wall and for repairs to the wall.
See (S21)
H.White (NLA) 22 January 2008.

January-August 2010. Watching Brief.
Maintained during groundworks associated with St Augustine’s Gyratory road scheme.
Works at the northern end of Esdelle Street exposed a substantial fragment of flint and mortar wall at TG 2297 0964. This was aligned north-west to south-east, suggesting it probably represented part of the eastern wall of one of the towers associated with this lost section of the city wall. The exposed section of wall was 1.75m thick and constructed of flint and lime mortar. Traces of plaster could be seen on its inner face. While the form of the outer wall suggested a semi-circular shape there was a suggestion that it had had a polygonal interior plan.
See report (S33) and NHER 67097 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 23 May 2023.

January-February 2013 and March 2015. Watching Brief and Rectified Photographic Survey.
In 2013 the demolition of the former Magpie Printers buildings at the western end of Magpie Road exposed a section of the city wall and the remains of an associated 'D'-shaped tower that had previously been hidden from view. We know from a survey of 1910 that this tower had been incorporated into adjacent residential dwellings and a number of red brick walls within and adjacent to the structure were likely to have been associated with this late post-medieval phase of use. A flint and brick wall to the rear of the tower was likely to be earlier in date, although it was probably not medieval. It was potentially related to a house shown within the tower on a sketch of c.1720 by John Kirkpatrick. A test pit within the tower revealed a flint and mortar foundation that had probably been associated the original rear wall of the medieval tower, which had presumably been taken down to increase the available space.
A rectified photographic survey of the newly exposed sections of medieval wall was undertaken as part of this work.
Subsequent excavations for a new soakaway and silt bucket in the open ground to the north of the tower revealed deposits likely to represent the fills of the medieval town ditch.
See report (S35) and NHER 67104 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 24 May 2023.

August-September 2016 and November-December 2017. Watching Brief.
In 2016 a test pit excavated at the read of 72 St Augustine’s Street recorded a flint wall likely to represent the remains of the medieval city wall. A subsequent watching brief maintained during the construction of an extension at this location in 2017 recorded a sequence of deposits likely to represent the uppermost fills of the medieval town ditch. These layers all contained demolition debris, the nature of which demonstrated that this final infilling had occurred during the post-medieval period. An adjacent deposit was thought to be the remnants of the earthwork bank known to have existed beside the ditch prior to the construction of the city wall.
See report (S36) and NHER 67105 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 25 May 2023.