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In 1338 June 2, the bailiffs and good men were supposedly granted, by Edward III, (In year 12 of his reign) a Royal licence to crenellate Harwich (Harwich)
Grant to the bailiffs and good men of Harwich, who intend to enclose the town with a wall of stone and to crenellate the wall, of murage for five years on things for sale coming by land or water to their town, or to the port of Erewell pertaining to the town. By K. & C. (CPR)

Granted at Bury St. Edmunds. Grant by King and Council.

Although this document has been considered by some as a licence to crenellate it is rejected as a licence.

Comments

This is a murage grant but it is indexed as a licence to crenellate by the PRO.

Original source is;

(In fact, the original source given is usually a transcription/translation of what are precious medieval documents not readily availably. It should be noted that these transcription/translations often date to the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries and that unwitting bias of transcribers may affect the translation. Care should also be taken to avoid giving modern meaning to the medieval use of certain stock words and terms. Licentia is best translated as 'freedom to' not 'permission'.)

More information about licences to crenellate can be found here.

Please do inform Gatehouse if you see any errors, can add information or can otherwise help to improve this resource. Please contact Gatehouse.

Record created by Philip Davis. This record last updated on Sunday, October 4, 2015.


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