Canterbury City Walls are a series of defenses built around the city of Canterbury in Kent , England . The first city walls were built by the Romans, probably between 270 and 280 years BC. e. These walls were built of stone and were protected by moats and wall towers. At least five gates were installed in these walls, which were connected to a network of Roman roads throughout Britain. After the Romans left the island of Canterbury fell into decay, however, the walls remained, and possibly influenced the decision of Augustine of Canterbury to settle in the city at the end of the VI century. The Anglo-Saxons maintained defensive walls, built chapels over most of the gates, and used the walls to protect Canterbury from Viking invasions. [2]
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The Norman conquerors took the city without resistance, and by the 12th century the walls came in poor condition and lost their former military value. Fears of the French invasion during the Hundred Years War led to the mounting of the Canterbury defense in 1363. Then it was decided to restore the city walls, and over the next thirty years, the old Roman defenses were rebuilt in stone. Around the city 24 towers were built, and in the subsequent many of the gates were rebuilt from stone and brick. They were protected by cannon guns - one of the first in England. Parts of the wall were deliberately damaged by Parliament during the Civil War in England in the 17th century, and the doors of the city gates burned down. With the restoration of the Stuarts in 1660, new gates were installed
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the city walls of Canterbury began to interfere with the expansion of the city. All gates except the West were destroyed, and vast parts of the walled chain were destroyed to make way for new roads and buildings. German bombing during the Second World War caused additional damage. Despite this, the remaining walls and gates were preserved, and some parts of the wall were completely rebuilt. Today, more than half of the original building has been preserved, and archaeologists Oliver Creighton and Robert Hyam consider the city wall “one of the most magnificent in Britain” [3] .
Notes
- ↑ National Heritage List for England
- ↑ Julian D. Richards. Viking Age England. - P. 96. - ISBN 978-0-7524-2888-8 .
- ↑ Creighton & Higham, 2005
Literature
- Brent, John. Canterbury in the Olden Time: From the Municipal Archives and Other Sources. - Canterbury, UK and London, UK: A. Ginder, and Bell and Daldy, 1860.
- Cox, J. Charles. Canterbury, a Historical and Topographical Account of the City. - London, UK: Methuen, 1905.
- Creighton, Oliver. Medieval Town Walls: an Archeology and Social History of Urban Defense. - Stroud, UK: Tempus, 2005.
- Fleming, Robin. Britain After Rome: The Fall and Rise, 400 to 1070 .-- London, UK: Penguin Books, 2011.
- Frere, SS Excavations on the Roman and Medieval Defences of Canterbury. - Maidstone, UK: Canterbury Archaeological Trust and Kent Archaeological Society, 1982.
- Howard, John. The State of the Prisons in England and Wales, with Preliminary Observations and an Account of Some Foreign Prisons. - Warringon, UK: William Eyres, 1777.
- Lyle, Marjorie. Canterbury: 2000 Years of History. - Stroud, UK: Tempus, 2002.
- Turner, Hilary L. Town Defences in England and Wales. - London, UK: John Baker, 1971.