Alnwick town walls

Alnwick town walls
Alnwick, Northumberland
The Bondgate Tower, displaying the Percy lion
Alnwick town walls
Coordinates	grid reference NU188132
Type	City wall

Alnwick's town walls are a 15th-century defensive structure built around the town of Alnwick in England.

History

Alnwick's town walls were built in the 15th century following a period of considerable border instability and raiding that had caused significant damage to Alnwick's economy.^[1] Henry VI permitted the town to charge murage on selected imports to Alnwick in 1434 and, using these taxes, protective walls with four gates were built in stone over a period of around fifty years.^[2] The local Percy family controlled the neighbouring Alnwick Castle and the Bondgate Tower was decorated with their lion crest - an unusual feature for town gates of this period which normally celebrated civic, rather than local noble, identities.^[3]

Today the remaining parts of the walls, including the 15th century Bondgate Tower^[4] and the 18th century Pottergate,^[5] are a scheduled monument and a grade I listed building.^[6]

See also

• List of town walls in England and Wales

References

1. Pettifer, p.172; Creighton and Higham, p.87.
2. Pettifer, p.172; Creighton and Higham, p.269.
3. Creighton and Higham, p.141.
4. 55°24′46″N 1°42′13″W / 55.4126544°N 1.7037149°W
5. 55°24′54″N 1°42′39″W / 55.4149725°N 1.7108335°W
6. Pettifer, p.172; Alnwick Town Wall, Gatehouse website, accessed 11 October 2011.

Bibliography

• Creighton, Oliver Hamilton and Robert Higham. (2005) Medieval Town Walls: an Archaeology and Social History of Urban Defence. Stroud, UK: Tempus. ISBN 978-0-7524-1445-4.
• Pettifer, Adrian. (2002) English Castles: a Guide by Counties. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-782-5.