Monument record 727/10 - Civil War Defences

SMR note: Mapping illustrates the North West corner of the civil war defences as identified through EUS Mapping

{1} In C17th Towcester was walled along the Roman line by Prince Rupert. The works were slighted in 1644 when the town was abandoned to the Parliamentarians.

{2} In the autumn of 1643 the town of Towcester was fortified as the primary garrison of the Roayalist Oxford army by Prince Rupert. There were some 10,000 troops garrisoned in and around the town for a short period that winter. The garrison was never besieged but was abandoned in early 1644 with the progressive withdrawal of the troops to other campaigns and following the fall of the nearby minor garrison of grafton Regis on the 25th December.
It is to be expected that bulwarks for artillery will have been placed at each of the points at which the defences changed direction to enable adequate covering fire along the curtain.
Bury Mount was levelled for the positioning of Civil War artillery see SMR record (727/3).

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP64NE1 (unchecked) (Index). SNN443.

<2> Taylor J.; Foard G.; Laughton J.; Steadman S.; Ballinger J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Towcester, 3.2 (checked) (Report). SNN103132.

<3> John Samuels Archaeological Consultants, 2006, An Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of Land at 147 Watling Street, Towcester, Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Report). SNN105760.

Record last edited

Oct 11 2022 3:13PM