Ewyas Harold Borough Defences (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Ewias Harold

In the civil parish of Ewyas Harold.
In the historic county of Herefordshire.
Modern Authority of Herefordshire.
1974 county of Hereford and Worcester.
Medieval County of Herefordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO38742880
Latitude 51.95425° Longitude -2.89275°

Ewyas Harold Borough Defences has been described as a probable Urban Defence.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

Surviving earthworks around the perimeter of the settlement suggest the course of the medieval borough defences, these exist as a prominent bank to the N of the church. Areas of turf at the S & N ends of the bank removed by machine in 1983. Found Pottery embedded in exposed surface of reddish brown clay. (Historic Herefordshire on line)

The earthwork to the north of the church (HWCM 5321) has been interpreted as part of the medieval borough defences. There is no record of medieval material being retrieved during a watching brief, and the real nature of this feature is not yet clear. (Victoria Buteux in Dalwood and Bryant)

Sources of information, references and further reading

County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 5321.

Books
- Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p. 266
Periodical Articles
- Creighton, Oliver, 2006, ''Castles of Communities': Medieval Town Defences in England; Wales and Gascony' Château Gaillard Vol. 22 p. 75-86
  Bond J., 2001, 'Earthen Castles, Outer Enclosures and the Earthworks at Ascott d'Oilly Castle, Oxfordshire' Oxoniensia Vol. 46 p. 65-6 (Appendix: Norman earthwork castles with failed towns in outer enclosures) online copy
  Atkin, C.W., 1954, 'Herefordshire' in H.C. Darby and I.B. Terrett, The Domesday Geography of Medieval England p. 103-4
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Dalwood, H. and Bryant, V. (eds), 2005, The Central Marches Historic Towns Survey 1992-6 Download online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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