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Ruthin Town Defences

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Rhuthun; Ruffin; Ruthyn

In the community of Ruthin.
In the historic county of Denbighshire.
Modern authority of Denbighshire.
Preserved county of Clwyd.

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ123582
Latitude 53.11541° Longitude -3.31061°

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

There are no visible remains.

Description

No remains of C15 earth and stone defences. (Bond)

Grant to the bailiffs and good men of the town of Ruthyn of murage for six years, at the supplication of the king's kinsman the lord of Grey of Ruthyn, who has shown the king that the town lies so open among the Welsh rebels and (in) their danger (domogerium) that great perils and damages are likely to happen as have happened before by the burning and destruction of the town and the killing of the king's lieges there. (CPR p. 375)
Comments

Murage grant is clearly a response to the Owain Glyndwr revolt. How much work was done after the end of the revolt is questionable, but Soulsby writes 'a ditch was consequently dug around the borough, but no traces of it remain', referencing a C15 record that 'a fossus was made on that land in defence of the town of Ruthin in the time of the Welsh War'. There seems to be no evidence to support Bond's assertion to stone defences and whilst earthen defences were started it is possibly they were never completed.
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This record last updated before 1 February 2016


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