Tewkesbury Town Gates

Has been described as a Questionable Urban Defence

There are no visible remains

NameTewkesbury Town Gates
Alternative Names
Historic CountryGloucestershire
Modern AuthorityGloucestershire
1974 AuthorityGloucestershire
Civil ParishTewkesbury

Gazebo. Late C18 with substantial late C20 additions. Flemish bond brick to front, English bond to returns, and all in large bricks, with plain tile roof. A small square building with pyramid roof set up from Red Lane on earlier retaining wall, perhaps part of medieval town wall. (Listed Building Report)

List H. New post-Conquest medieval defensive circuits and medieval extensions to earlier circuits, consisting only of gates and/or earthen defences. Tewkesbury; New post-Conquest medieval defences; Gates only; No remains visible, but position known or suspected; Occasional contemporary references only, but sufficient to confirm that defences existed or were planned; No archaeological excavations on defences known. (Bond no references given)

Gatehouse Comments

No mention of town walls, gates or other defences made in the Extensive Urban Survey or the VCH. The wall mentioned in the listed building report seems a fanciful interpretation of a medieval wall. Without knowing Bond's source it is difficult to dismiss the reference to 'gates' although these may be references to the Abbey precinct gates rather than town gates. It should be noted there are no 'gate' street names in Tewkesbury (although the south of the town is bounded by the River Swilgate). The medieval town was clearly defined by natural watercourses and marshy land on all sides. At least one of the bridges on the river Swilgate is suggested as being a 'drawbridge' although this was not necessarily a defensive feature (lifting bridges are needed to allow ships to sail along rivers).

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law

Historic England Scheduled Monument Number
Historic England Listed Building number(s)
Images Of England
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSO892326
Latitude51.9924011230469
Longitude-2.15757989883423
Eastings389200
Northings232600
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Salter, Mike, 2013, Medieval Walled Towns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 157 (listed as gates only)
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p. 238, 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
  • Elrington, C.R. (ed), 1968, VCH Gloucestershire Vol. 8 p. 110-122 (borough history) online transcription

Journals

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

Other

  • Matthew Tilley, Tim Grubb, 2008, Extensive Urban Survey - Gloucestershire (no mention) Download copy