Higham Ferrers Town Defences
Has been described as a Questionable Urban Defence
There are no visible remains
| Name | Higham Ferrers Town Defences |
| Alternative Names | |
| Historic Country | Northamptonshire and the Soke of Peterborough |
| Modern Authority | Northamptonshire |
| 1974 Authority | Northamptonshire |
| Civil Parish | Higham Ferrers |
Bond writes that a late Saxon possible circuit 'can be traced from topographical indications'.
Kerr suggested, followed later by Beresford and Steane, that the origins of this focus lay in the establishment of a late Saxon burh at Higham, in the late 9th or 10th century. This hypothesis is based on the presence of a rectangular pattern of closes immediately east of the castle and church called Bury Closes. The interpretation should probably be dismissed because the size of the enclosure defined would be of the order of 35 hectares. This lies dramatically beyond the size of the county's two known late Saxon burhs of Towcester and Northampton, at 10 and 24 hectares respectively. It is extremely unlikely that a burh larger than Northampton would have existed within the county or that such a substantial defended late Saxon site would have left no documentary record other than field names. A far more likely interpretation for the Bury Close field names is that they represent demesne land partly or wholly enclosed after 1591, when Norden depicted open field abutting the castle on the east side. (Extensive Urban Survey)
Not scheduled
Not Listed
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | SP960685 |
| Latitude | 52.3064002990723 |
| Longitude | -0.591650009155273 |
| Eastings | 496000 |
| Northings | 268500 |
