Halesowen Town Gates (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Halesowen.
In the historic county of Worcestershire.
Modern Authority of Dudley.
1974 county of West Midlands.
Medieval County of Shropshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO966835
Latitude 52.45024° Longitude -2.05092°

Halesowen Town Gates has been described as a Urban Defence although is doubtful that it was such.

There are no visible remains.

Description

In a list of 'New post-Conquest medieval defensive circuits and medieval extensions to earlier circuits, consisting only of gates and/or earthen defences Bond includes ?Halesowen coded as post-Conquest; gates only; position largely or wholly unknown; circumstantial or secondary evidence only; no archaeological excavation on defences known. (Bond 1987)

At some time in the 13th century Henry III allowed the Abbot and convent of Hales to create a borough centrally situated within their manor. The rent of each burgage was fixed at 12d. However the burgesses of Halesowen seem to have enjoyed little real independence. At the eyre of 1255-6 Halesowen appeared as a 'villata' separate from the hundred by a bailiff and twelve jurors. As far as is known from existing records Halesowen never sent representatives to Parliament. By the middle of the 13th century although agriculture was still the chief employment other industries had already sprung up, as for example the making of cloth. Coal was dug before the close of the 13th century. (PastScape ref. VCH 1913)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 868622.
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Books
- Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p. 38, 266
  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
  Willis-Bund, J.W., 1913, 'Halesowen: Introduction, borough and manors' VCH Worcestershire Vol. 3 p. 136-53 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Creighton, Oliver, 2006, ''Castles of Communities': Medieval Town Defences in England; Wales and Gascony' Château Gaillard Vol. 22 p. 75-86

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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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