Abstract. There probably was a wall or vallum around the early cathedral-church of Lichfield. A formidable curtain wall with bastion towers and a moat was in place before the Civil War and was unique. Its prime purpose was undoubtedly to protect the bishop and visiting kings. Three sieges, 1643-46, destroyed much of the wall, gates and cathedral. Consequently, the shape of the west gate and southern boundary is uncertain and also the extent of the moat. There is an affinity with the moated wall around the bishop’s palace at Wells.
Some kind of protective wall was built around the Cathedral Close in
the 12th-century, organised by Bishop Roger de Clinton, 1129-48,[1]
and the Close was described as a castellum, c. 1200,[2]
meaning a small fort. In the 17th-century it was described as, Castrum Lichesfeldense muniendo villam vallo
vallendo milites; that is, ‘The soldiers fortified the castle of Lichfield
and fortified the town with a rampart’.[3]
The word ‘castle’ is ambiguous with some writers suggesting a castle was within
the town and not about the Close.[4]
Taylor described it as a rather vaguely worded document.[5] Harwood
thought the whole settlement was entrenched, that is, Clinton fortified the castle, to have made a
rampart round the village, and to have enrolled and mustered the soldiers.[6]
It is now believed there was only some
kind of fortification of the Close[7]
and it was probably rudimentary, though Clinton was the nephew of Geoffrey de
Clinton who started the construction of Kenilworth Castle. The Victorian County
History could only conclude the Close appeared to have been fortified.[8] So what sort of early fortification was
built? It was around three sides of the Close, 300 m long and 250 m wide. The
south side river or stream had been dammed and the pool protected this side.
Suggested topography of the Close
around the year 1100.[9] The
enclosure could have been a ditch and embankment, but it is more likely to have
used the bedrock to give a substantial vallum.
In 1299, around 30 years before
completion of the cathedral, Bishop Walter
de Langton obtained a licence to strengthen and crenelate the boundary
walls.[10]
Another account has he refortified the Close with a stone wall.[11]
Harwood has he cleaned the ditch around the Close, and surrounded it with a
stone wall.[12]
He added, the Close, was surrounded by water, and fortified by walls and
bastions, and was a place of considerable strength.[13]
Victoria County History has Langton
constructed a stone perimeter wall with massive gatehouses at the south
and west entrances.[14]
In a seminal work[15]
on the Civil War sieges it claimed “Langton fortified the Close by surrounding
the whole of it, including the south side, with stone walls, built in a
handsome manner and strengthened with towers and turrets. To the west and south
of these fortifications were gates (the southern gate was a postern), each
furnished with a portcullis and a drawbridge to give access over a moat.” Two
thick oak doors, one internal and one to the outside guarded each entrance.
Probably the walls had to be reinforced soon after the age of cannon began in
the 1330sThe twin semi-octagonal towers at the Dam Street entrance were
completed after 1322 and the west gate c. 1355 with a portcullis added
1376. The northwest tower was known as the dean’s tower and the northeast was
the bishop’s tower. The east wall had three interval towers with two within the
bishop’s palace[16]
and one where there is now Selwyn House. Whether all this considerable fortification
was completed in the 14th century, or more added in the intervening 300 years
to the English Civil War is unknown.[17] The
fortified cathedral must have appeared like a castle and entrance to the Close,
especially to the bishop’s palace would have been impossible. It was a very
secure bishop’s palace that also had its fortifications around the cathedral.
Appearance
of the fortified cathedral on a map by John Speed dated 1610[18].
Langton’s rise in the church was assisted
by his uncle who in 1265 became Archbishop of York and by his close friend Robert
Burnell who became Bishop of Bath and Wells. The walls, gatehouse and moat at
Wells were added after 1329, which was after Langton’s death in 1321, but
around the same time as the building of the Lichfield ramparts. Since it is
known the layout of the church and particularly the choirs at Lichfield and
Wells were similar,[19]
the hall in Langton’s palace matched the size of Bishop Burnell’s at
Wells,1292,[20]
and the west fronts of the two cathedrals have similarities, it is possible the
two moated walls and tower have resemblances.
Maddison explained the fortifying
was a response to Edward I’s marshalling for his three campaigns of 1277, 1282
and 1294,[21]
and chimes with the building of castles. If this is true, it would be
expected troops were garrisoned in the Close and there is no reference to this
in the fragmentary documents. Alternatively, the fortification of Lichfield
Close might really be because of the fortification of the bishop’s palace and
chimes with the building of the bishop’s palace at Wells. Langton’s power was
formidable and his palaces at Lichfield and at Eccleshall reflected this.
Aerial
view of the bishop’s palace at Wells.
There are 3 uncertainties concerning this fortification, namely, extent of the moat, the southern boundary and the shape of the towers.
1.
Was the moat dry or wet, or a mixture?
The
substantial ditch which enclosed the whole complex was known to have been cut
or re-cut in c. 1130. It was dug into the underlying sandstone and presumably
acted as a convenient quarry for buildings within the Close. It was around 30
m. wide and 5 m. deep.[22] There is no evidence at the
time of construction that the ditch contained water. Lomax
said the Close was nearly surrounded
by water.[23]
Speed’s map of 1610 does not show a moat around the curtain wall.
Thorpe’s (1950)[24] plan of the Close showing
a moat on part of the east and west sides of the fortified cathedral.
It is plausible the water course along
the east wall extended as far as the bishop’s palace, because it could then
drain waste from the palace. Likewise, it extended three-quarters along the
west wall and drained waste from the houses along Beacon Street and perhaps
from the west gate. The north dyke being at a higher elevation (presently, 8m
higher than the pool) would not be fed with water from the southern stream, but
could have filled with rainwater or from a spring. The bedrock of Mercian red
sandstone has a relatively low permeability and can hold water. So, was the
whole Close surrounded with a moat at the time of the Civil War, 1643-46?
Prince
Rupert arrived in Lichfield on April 6 1643 to retake the Close from the occupying
Parliamentarian Army. His Royalist forces surrounded the Close and began to
pound the walls, but this did not work. So, he recruited men to mine tunnels
under the wall. It is written miners from the Cannock Chase coal mines were
used, but they would have been sympathetic to the Parliamentarian cause.
Instead, there were men around from Leicestershire with experience of mining.
According to Clayton, “Before they could start undermining the walls the top
moat (north side) had to be drained of water, and this was probably done by
diverting the springs that fed the moat from the higher ground”.[26] The Parliamentarians,
under Colonel Russel, thought 3 or 4 tunnels were being dug. It is presumed the
diggers were under some shield to prevent being shot from the ramparts.
The northwest
corner of the fortified cathedral at the time of the second siege and after
undermining the northeast tower with gunpowder. Note the shielding around the
northwest tower to protect the miners. Also, the rectangular shape of the west
gate. Second siege of Lichfield; Mike Kilfoyle; 1993; LCA 0576.
Griffiths Higgs was the dean of Lichfield and wrote a first-hand account of events in the spring of 1643 in Latin, which have been recently reanalysed.[27] Higgs was a Royalist and he wrote, Rupert for the second siege moved his machines and catapults, providing mantlets (protective iron shields) for the siege-men. He used battering rams, hurled rocks and constructed underground mines. He fixed ladders to the walls and built a bridge across the moat. After the Close was taken by the Royalists, Richard Bagot of Stafford was declared governor and he had water brought back into the moat. This infers a wet moat existed, particularly on the north side.
It is clear and obvious why Rupert tried to breech the wall on the northwest corner. This has the highest elevation and presumably the lowest water level. It could also have had the lowest wall offset by the deepest ditch. Furthermore, it might have been a wall without a house behind; breeching a wall and then having to fight through a house might have been too much. If so, it adds to the notion by 1643 the whole of the Close had a wet moat.
2.
Did the south side have a wall or were
backs of houses and the pool sufficient protection?
John
Speed’s map, 1610, appears to show houses along the south boundary of the
Close. So does a hand-drawn view of the Close from the south by William
Dugdale.
Dugdale’s
drawing, Ashmole MS 1521 of 1643 (should be 1646).
If the walled Close was primarily to
protect the bishop’s palace, then its own high wall south of the palace was
sufficient. Entry through the southeast gate would be restricted and probably
only allowed the bishop’s carriage and staff to pass through. No southern wall was
repeated in Mike Kilfoyle’s drawings and in Tringham’s layout for the mid-17th
century. Ellis and Atherton stated the Close was
protected by the Minster Pool on the south (or city side) and had a ditch on
the other three sides.25 Thorpe’s plan, 1950, however, has a
definite curtain wall along the Minster pool. At the Dam Street end there is a
portion of a wall still existing. Was this a true wall, or a long back to a row
of houses now removed?
Painting
thought to be mid-17th century by an unknown artist shows a square west gate
and no southern wall.
At the end
of the garden to No. 19 The Close is a length of walling which would have given
protection.
Reconstructed
view of the south side assuming there was a curtain wall. This parallels the walls around the bishop’s palace at Wells
cathedral.
At both the southeast and southwest
corners a house was incorporated into the wall and had a defensive turret. It
is an indicator of houses being part of the defensive wall.
St Mary’s
house with defensive turret.
There is an intriguing statement in the Calander of Patent Rolls,[28]
that as part of his work on fortifying the Close with a stone wall and gates,
Langton stopped a right of way which evidently ran along the road south of the
cathedral. Does this mean the
southside had walls or houses with limited access?
Conclusion appears to be the southside
had a combination of wall and backs of houses, probably strengthened with
access to their roofs, along the edge of Minster Pool and this was sufficient
deterrence to any incursion by an enemy. It is
uncertain.
.jpg)
Reconstructed view
of the southeast gate and corner with the Dam Street causeway
3. What was the shape of the towers?
West Gate[29]
A drawing exists
of the west gate before its final demolition in 1800. [30]
It shows three shields, a rampant lion with chequered square (left), the arms
of the see of Lichfield (centre) and the arms of Charles I (right). This is the
centre of the gate and gives no clue as to the shape of the side towers. Lomax
stated over the gate was a tower,[31]
but that does not accord with other castle gates.
West gate drawing before its demolition in 1800
An etching by Henry White[32] shows a small west gate that has round towers.
Henry White etching. Lichfield Cathedral in 1640, William Salt Library. The west gate appears small, whereas the ferry gate on the south side appears large. The towers are drawn round when it is known the corner towers were octagonal.
 |
| Reconstruction of the west gate. |
The remains of the side tower still visible in the left wall to the entrance to the Close suggest a large tower block. This is reminiscent of the gatehouse to the bishop’s palace at Wells.
It cannot be ruled out the west gate had octagonal towers much like around the Close. It is odd that no account of its appearance has been given in early books on the cathedral. The remains of a tower at the bishop’s palace at Eccleshall show it was octagonal. It seems incongruous the corner towers and possibly the southern gate towers were octagonal and the west gate was not.
Southern Gate opposite Dam Street. Early guides stated the southeast gates were of massive oak, studded with iron, having a wicket for the passage of people on foot. The water from Minster Pool was bridged by a draw-bridge before flowing to Stowe Pool. The gateway was flanked by towers, projecting from the walls of the Close into the fosse, one of which on the east side was used as a dwelling, and called the turret house.[33]
Corner Towers. The
corner towers appear octagonal and this is apparent in the remnant of the
northeast tower. The foundation of the tower in the southeast corner is an octagon with 12 feet sides, but is this the corner tower or the eastern tower of the gate? The octagon side appears to be facing east not south and thus was on a corner, so the corner tower was the turret tower attached today to a house. The southwest tower was the largest.[34]
Foundation to southeast tower showing it has some octagonal sides. The side showing is facing east.
Northern ditch, wall and northeast tower showing it was octagonal.
There are uncertainties in the shape
of the curtain wall, especially the shape of the towers alongside the gates. It
is possible, but incongruous, the west-gate had tall, square side towers,
whereas the south-east gate towers were octagonal. The height of the
castellated wall appears to vary considerably, with the north wall being higher
than the south or east wall.
.jpg)
[1] H. Wharton, Anglia Sacra (1691),
434.
[2] M. W. Greenslade, 'Lichfield: The cathedral close', in A History of the
County of Stafford: Volume 14, Lichfield, (London, 1990), 57-67. British
History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14/
[3] H. Wharton, Anglia
Sacra, i. 434; S.H.C.
4th ser. xi. 8.
[4] The site was reputed to be
close to the street named ‘Castle Dyke’, between Frog Lane and Wade Street.
Leland wrote, “There hathe bene a castle of auncient tyme in the southe ende of
the towne, but no parte of it standithe. The plote with the dikes is sene, and
is yet caullyd The Castle Felde; but in my coniecture the more lykely place
wher it shuld of very auntient tyme have stond is the very close of the palace.
That ground is somewhat castle like. L. Toulmin Smith, The Itinerary of John
Leland in or about the years 1535–1543. (London: 1907–10), 99.
[5] C. C. Taylor, ‘The origins
of Lichfield, Staffordshire’, South Staffordshire archaeological and historical
society transactions for 1968-9, (1969), 10, 43-52.
[6] T. Harwood, The history and antiquities
of the church and city of Lichfield. (London: 1806), 10-11, 288, 292, 295.
[7] W. Pitt, Topographical history of
Staffordshire. (1817).
[8] M.
W. Greenslade (ed.), 'Lichfield: History to c.1500', in A History of
the County of Stafford: Volume 14, Lichfield, (London, 1990), pp. 4-14,
note 46.
[9] T. R. Slater, ‘The topography and planning
of Medieval Lichfield. A critique. South Staffordshire archaeological and
historical society transactions for 1984-1985. (1986), 26, 11-35.
[10] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward I: Vol. 3,
1292-1301, 409. See note 5, John Leland (L. Toulmin Smith) page 102. The whole
closse of the cathedral churche was newly dikid and waullyd right strongely by
Bysshope Langton, and he made one gate of a majestic, and great strengkith at
the west parte of the close, and anothar but a lesse gate at the southeast
parte of the close.
[11] See note 3, Wharton, 1691, volume 1, 442.
[12] See Harwood note 5. Harwood (1806), 10.
[13] Ibid 20.
[14] Ibid 11, note 404.
[15] H. Clayton, Loyal and Ancient City.
Lichfield in the Civil Wars. (Lichfield: 1987).
[16] For a plan of the palace see N. Tringham,
'Palace of Walter Langton in Lichfield Close', Medieval Archaeology and
Architecture at Lichfield, ed. J. Maddison (1993), 88.
[17] Coventry had greater fortifications with 20
towers, 12 gates and walling 2 miles (3.2km) long. Started in 1355, it took 180
years to complete.
[18] By the mid-17th
century, it was called the Dimple or Dimble, a name meaning a deep hollow
filled with trees or bushes.
[19] R. Willis, ‘On
foundations of early buildings recently discovered in Lichfield Cathedral’. The
Archaeological Journal, (1861), 18, 1–24. Willis visited the
Cathedral in 1849 to examine window tracery. In 1854 he was invited to forward
a drawing for the restoration of the choir area. Before publication Willis gave
a lecture reported in The Gentleman’s Magazine, March 1861, Vol. 210, 296‑300.
[20] D. Lepine, ‘‘Glorious confessor’: the cult
of S Chad at Lichfield Cathedral during the later Middle Ages’, Staffordshire
Archaeological and Historical Society-Transactions, (2021), 33.
[21] J. Maddison, ‘Building at Lichfield
Cathedral during the episcopate of Walter Langton, 1296–1321.’ In Medieval
archaeology and architecture at Lichfield, XIII, British Archaeological
Association (1993), 66.
[22] T. R. Slater, (1986), 15. See note 9.
Current cathedral ditch has been measured to be 42 m (139 feet) wide, around 6
m (20 feet) deep and with a bank around 2 m high.
[23] T. Lomax, A short account
of the City and Close of Lichfield. (Lichfield: 1819).
[24] H. Thorpe,
‘Lichfield: a study of its growth and function.’ Collections for a history
of Staffordshire, 1950-51, 137-211
[25] N. J. Tringham, ‘Two seventeenth-century
surveys of Lichfield Cathedral Close, South Staffordshire Archaeological and
Historical Society transactions for 1983-84. (1985), 25, 35-49.
[26] H. Clayton, ‘Loyal and Ancient City. The
Civil War in Lichfield’. (Lichfield, self-published: 1987), 43.
[27] N. Ellis and I. Atherton, ‘Griffith Higgs's
Account of the Sieges of and Iconoclasm at Lichfield Cathedral in 1643, Midland
History, (2009) 34:2, 233-245.
[28] Calander of Patent Rolls 1348–50, 56.
[29] It is thought Langton’s
master mason was Henry de Ellerton, active as the master of the King’s Works
1304-22. He took over the building of Caernarfon Castle in 1323. The King’s
Gate might have a resemblance to Lichfield’s west-gate.
[30] The pen and ink drawing by C. E. Skinner in
March 1800 prior to the demolition of the gate.
[31] T. Lomax, (1819), 206. See note 23.
[32] T. Harwood (1806), 307. See note 5.
[33] T. Lomax, (1819), 210. See note 23.
[34] H. Clayton (1987), 17. See note 26.
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