Lymington Town Defences

Has been described as a Rejected Urban Defence

There are no visible remains

NameLymington Town Defences
Alternative Names
Historic CountryHampshire and the Isle of Wight
Modern AuthorityHampshire
1974 AuthorityHampshire
Civil ParishLymington and Pennington

Lymington is first mentioned in 1184-1216 when the borough was founded by William de Redvers the charter was confirmed in c1256 by Baldwin de Redvers. In 1257 a grant to Baldwin de Redvers of a fair. In 1271 a charter of Isobella de Fortibus referring to an extension of the borough. (PastScape ref. Beresford and Finberg)

Lymington was an important port in the medieval period with French wines and other commodities being landed there. In 1346-7 the town provided 9 ships and 159 mariners for the defence of the coast (Jones 1930, 60), but the town suffered from French incursions on several occasions in the fourteenth century, and was last attacked in 1545 (King 1900, 7-8). However, the French attacks have not generated the tales of widespread destruction that are associated with some of the towns on the Isle of Wight which were also subjected to French raids. (Hopkins 2004)

Possible remains of the medieval borough boundary wall of Lymington were excavated by the Avon Valley Archaeological Society in 1996. (Hampshire AHBR)

Excavation in 1996 at Grove Garden by Avon Valley Archaeological Society located the massive limestone blocks of the C13 town wall foundation. (? source)

Gatehouse Comments

Unfortunately the citation for a mention of a C13 town wall is lost. However, there are no historical references to a town wall and the interpretation of the find of some limestone blocks from what seems to have been a 2 day excavation can be seriously questioned. What is interesting is how an undefended town appears to have suffered less damage from French raids than defended towns!

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSZ321954
Latitude50.7576293945313
Longitude-1.54506003856659
Eastings432100
Northings95400
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Beresford, M. and Finberg, H.P.R., 1973, English Medieval Boroughs: a Handlist (Newton Abbot: David and Charles) p. 118
  • Jones, C.P., 1930, History of Lymington (Charles T. King: Lymington)
  • King, E., 1900, Old Times Revisited in the Borough of Lymington, Hampshire (Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Co: London)

Other

  • Dave Hopkins, 2004, Extensive Urban Survey - Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (English Heritage) Download copy