Oakham, a town in Rutland, may have had civic defences in the medieval period.
Oakham was an Anglo-Saxon settlement, at heart of a large estate forming part of the dower lands of the queens of England. There may have been earthworks around the settlement during this period.
Historians suspect that Oakham Castle, constructed by the Normans after the invasion of 1066, was placed within that existing system of earthwork defences, probably maintained in the 11th or 12th century. The town defences would have followed the outside line of the castle’s wards, traced west to incorporate the church, and cut south of the High Street to run parallel with modern South Street. The town did not have any gatehouses, but appears to have barred access along the line of the defences.
No remains of these defences, other than those associated with castle, now survive, although archaeological investigation has uncovered the remains of the deep defensive ditch that followed the path of modern South Street. The ditch is believed to have been backfilled in the 18th century.
Bibliography
- Barton, Tamlin. (2018) 41 and 43 South Street Oakham, Rutland: Historic Building Assessment. Milton Keynes, UK: CFA Archaeology.
- Creighton, Oliver H. (1999) “Early Castles in the Medieval Landscape of Rutland”, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society. Volume 73 pp. 19-33.
- Jones, Elaine. (1995) “An Archaeological Salvage Excavation and Watching Brief at South Street, Oakham,” Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society. Volume 69, p. 118.
- Jones, Elaine. (1996) “The Excavation of a Saxon Grubenhaus and Other Features at South Street, Oakham, Rutland”, Journal of the Rutland Local History and Record Society. Number 16, pp. 250-256.
- Sharman, J. and D. Sawday. (1990) “An Archaeological Evaluation in the Outer Bailey of Oakham Castle (SK 862 089),” Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Volume 64 pp. 88-94.
Attribution
The text of this page is licensed under under CC BY-NC 2.0.
The plan of the Oakham town defences is based on an underlying map copyright OpenStreetMap contributors, and released under CC BY-SA 2.0.