Huntingdon Town Defences (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Bar Dyke

In the civil parish of Huntingdon.
In the historic county of Huntingdonshire.
Modern Authority of Cambridgeshire.
1974 county of Cambridgeshire.
Medieval County of Huntingdonshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL240714
Latitude 52.32858° Longitude -0.18984°

Huntingdon Town Defences has been described as a probable Urban Defence.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Bond puts the defences in his 'of no post-Conquest significance' list.

An excavation investigated an earthwork bank and ditch known as the Bar Dyke, which is thought to be of medieval origin, ridge and furrow and the location of a WW1 Royal Flying Corps training camp. Archaeological features included prehistoric ditches, medieval pits and ridge and furrow. Bar Dyke measured 12m wide and nearly 2.5m deep, its scale suggesting that this phase may date from the Civil War, part of the western defences of the town. Pre-dating it was a ditch, 5m wide and c.1m deep, which is likely to be medieval and may represent the dyke or lane mentioned as Bar Dyke in 14th century documents. (Mortimer, 2005)

Sources of information, references and further reading

County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MCB18076.

Books
- Salter, Mike, 2013, Medieval Walled Towns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 157 (slight)
  Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p. 64, 68, 190, 258
  Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 19 (mention)
  Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report 61) p. 92-116 online copy
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 226
  Barley, M.W., 1975, 'Town Defences in England and Wales after 1066' in Barley (ed) The plans and topography of medieval towns in England and Wales (CBA Research Report 14) p. 57-71 download/view online
  Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p. 42, 162 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Brown, J., 2009, 'Huntingdon, Red Cross HQ, Castle Moat Road' in 'Fieldwork in Cambridgeshire 2008' Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society Vol. 98 p. 154 online copy
  Clarke, R. and Connor, A., 2009, 'Huntingdon, Huntingdon Town Centre' in 'Fieldwork in Cambridgeshire 2008' Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society Vol. 98 p. 154 online copy
  Mortimer, R., 2006, 'Huntingdon, Mill Common' in 'Fieldwork in Cambridgeshire 2005' Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society Vol. 95 p. 188 online copy
  Creighton, Oliver, 2006, ''Castles of Communities': Medieval Town Defences in England; Wales and Gascony' Château Gaillard Vol. 22 p. 75-86
  Green, 1973, CBA Group 7 Vol. 20 p. 4
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Cambridgeshire Extensive Urban Survey: Huntingdon. Draft Report 04/05/2004. online copy

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
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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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