Lydford Town Defences (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Hlidan

In the civil parish of Lydford.
In the historic county of Devonshire.
Modern Authority of Devon.
1974 county of Devon.
Medieval County of Devon.

OS Map Grid Reference: SX510848
Latitude 50.64436° Longitude -4.10751°

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

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

The Saxon burh of Hlidan, the town now known as Lydford, lies on a wedge-shaped promontory, isolated on the south and west by the deep gorge of the Lyd and on the north-west by a very steep sided tributary valley. Finds uncovered during excavation have included Imported Mediterranean Ware, which may indicate there was an earlier post Roman settlement here. During the reign of Alfred the Great (AD 871-99) it is believed that the town was chosen, on account of its great natural strength, to form a unit in the scheme of national defence. It is claimed that it proved an effective barrier to Danish raiders in AD 997 and subsequently became a populous burh, with a mint which issued silver pennies continuously from the reign of Ethelred II (AD 976-1016) to that of Edward the Confessor (AD 1042-1066). After AD 1066, a Norman fort, remaining as earthworks, was built within the town boundaries followed by a late 12th century prison or keep. Lydford subsequently became significant as a centre for justice and administration of the Forest of Dartmoor and the Stannaries. However it declined in commercial terms after the 14th century before seeing a revival in the 19th century. The location of the town on a promontory meant that it required little artificial fortification except for the north-east sector. At this position there still remains a large curvilinear earthwork rampart, separating the original settlement off from the flatter land to the north-east. The rampart is in two sections with a 25 metre gap in the centre, which is thought to be the original entrance to the settlement, though it would have been much narrower in earlier times. There may well have been an external ditch to the rampart. The interior of the burh contains evidence of street layouts and property boundaries, which are believed to go back to Saxon times. The pottery found during excavations also included some late Saxon wares. (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1002506, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number dv392
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 440671.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 21796.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- English Heritage
  Legendary Dartmoor
  Anthony Bradshaw, 1999, The Burghal Hidage
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2013, Medieval Walled Towns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 100
  Purton, P.F., 2009, A History of the Early Medieval Siege c. 450-1220 (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press) p. 91
  Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p. 24, 28, 57, 60, 64, 234, 256
  Higham, Robert A., 1999, 'Castles, Fortified Houses and Fortified Towns in the Middle Ages' in Kain, R. and Ravenhill, W., Historical Atlas of South-West England (University of Exeter Press) p. 136-43
  Salter, Mike, 1999, The Castles of Devon and Cornwall (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 70-2
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 59-60
  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
  Haslam, J., 1984, 'The Towns of Devon' in J. Haslam (ed.) Anglo-Saxon Towns in southern England (Phillimore) p. 249-283 esp. 256-9 online copy
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 122
  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
  Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p. 197
  Wall, C., 1906, in Page, Wm (ed), 'Ancient Earthworks' VCH Devon Vol. 1 p. 619
Periodical Articles
- Creighton, Oliver, 2006, ''Castles of Communities': Medieval Town Defences in England; Wales and Gascony' Château Gaillard Vol. 22 p. 75-86
  Saunders, A.D., 1980, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 24 p. 123-64 download copy
  Radford, C.A.R., 1970, 'The later pre-Conquest boroughs and their defences' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 14 p. 94-6 download copy
  Wilson, D.M. and Hurst, D. Gillian, 1967, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 11 p. 263 download copy
  Addyman, P., 1966, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 10 p. 196-7 download copy
  Wilson, David M., 1965, 'Medieval Britain in 1964, 1, Pre-conquest' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 9 p. 170-8 download copy
  Wilson, David M., 1964, 'Medieval Britain in 1962 and 1963, 1, Pre-conquest' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 8 p. 232 download copy
  Finberg, H.P.R., 1947-9, Devon and Cornwall notes and queries Vol. 23 p. 386-7
Guidebooks
- Saunders, A.D., 1982 (2edn), Lydford: Saxon Town and Castle (HMSO)
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Newman, P., 2000, The Town and Castles Earthworks at Lydford, Devon (English Heritage Survey Report)

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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.

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