Halesowen Town Gates

Has been described as a Questionable Urban Defence

There are no visible remains

NameHalesowen Town Gates
Alternative Names
Historic CountryWorcestershire
Modern AuthorityDudley
1974 AuthorityWest Midlands
Civil ParishHalesowen

In a list of 'New post-Conquest medieval defensive circuits and medieval extensions to earlier circuits, consisting only of gates and/or earthen defences Bond includes ?Halesowen coded as post-Conquest; gates only; position largely or wholly unknown; circumstantial or secondary evidence only; no archaeological excavation on defences known. (Bond 1987)

At some time in the 13th century Henry III allowed the Abbot and convent of Hales to create a borough centrally situated within their manor. The rent of each burgage was fixed at 12d. However the burgesses of Halesowen seem to have enjoyed little real independence. At the eyre of 1255-6 Halesowen appeared as a 'villata' separate from the hundred by a bailiff and twelve jurors. As far as is known from existing records Halesowen never sent representatives to Parliament. By the middle of the 13th century although agriculture was still the chief employment other industries had already sprung up, as for example the making of cloth. Coal was dug before the close of the 13th century. (PastScape ref. VCH 1913)

Gatehouse Comments

What is Bond's circumstantial evidence? There is no mention of gates in the VCH. The tenurial history is not really suggestive of gates. There are no gate street names. Halesowen was part of Shropshire until 1843/4 when it was moved into Worcestershire.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSO966835
Latitude52.4502410888672
Longitude-2.05092000961304
Eastings396600
Northings283500
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p. 38, 266
  • Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report 61) p. 92-116 online copy
  • Willis-Bund, J.W., 1913, 'Halesowen: Introduction, borough and manors' VCH Worcestershire Vol. 3 p. 136-53 online transcription

Journals

  • Creighton, Oliver, 2006, ''Castles of Communities': Medieval Town Defences in England; Wales and Gascony' Château Gaillard Vol. 22 p. 75-86