page_title: Canterbury city walls
section_title: 15th–16th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Canterbury city walls / History / 15th–16th centuries
caption_attribution_description: English: Map by John Speed of Canterbury
context_page_description: Canterbury city walls are a sequence of defensive walls built around the city of Canterbury in Kent, England. The first city walls were built by the Romans, probably between 270 and 280 AD. These walls were constructed from stone on top of an earth bank, and protected by a ditch and wall towers. At least five gates were placed into the walls, linked to the network of Roman roads across the region. With the collapse of Roman Britain, Canterbury went into decline but the walls remained, and may have influenced the decision of Augustine to settle in the city at the end of the 6th century. The Anglo-Saxons retained the defensive walls, building chapels over most of the gates and using them to defend Canterbury against Viking incursions.
  The Norman invaders of the 11th century took the city without resistance, and by the 12th century the walls were ill-maintained and of little military value. Fears of a French invasion during the Hundred Years' War led to an enquiry into Canterbury's defences in 1363.
context_section_description: A survey in 1402 suggested that most of the city was walled, except for part of the stretch between the West Gate and North Gate. In 1409, the city's bailiffs were allowed to acquire lands worth £20 a year to support the maintenance of the walls, and Canterbury was permitted to draw funding from the royal customs duties for the walls. Murage taxes in Canterbury gave way to the introduction of support through a system of rates, with each ward being tasked to raise money through local taxes on its citizens. The walls became an important symbol of the city, and 15th-century art from Canterbury presents the cathedral and the city wall as having equal status as key features of the city.
  The resulting circuit of walls followed the line of the former Roman and Anglo-Saxon defences, incorporating them where they survived in good condition. Parts of the 14th century walls, for example along Burgate Lane, have been shown to 4 feet (1.2 m) thick at the base and built of Kentish ragstone; other sections incorporated the original Roman wall, which was still up to 8 feet (2.4 m) high in places. The new walls had a continuous wall walk and were crenellated. Most of the circuit was protected by an external ditch. The city walls retained the older system of Roman and Anglo-Saxon gates. West Gate was rebuilt around 1380 by the prominent mason, Henry Yevele, an unusually prominent architect for a city wall programme. As part of this work, Holy Cross Church was moved from over the gate to a nearby site. The old Roman Riding Gate was cut through by a new archway.
  Defensive towers were built around the city walls, and archaeological and historical evidence suggests that there were 24 of these. The towers had a generally uniform appearance, with 16 half-circular, or "horse-shoe", hollow-backed towers and eight square towers. The horse-shoe towers followed a fashion that had been popular from around 1260 to 1390, making Canterbury's towers a late example of the trend. The square towers were a newer design, and were built around the turn of the 14th and 15th century by Thomas Chillenden of Christchurch Priory.
  The reconstructed walls also saw the introduction of gunports. West Gate was an innovative piece of defensive design in this regard, forming a powerful battery, carefully designed to have a wide angle of covering fire. Positioning of the gunloops is similar to those at Cooling Castle, built around the same time, and gave particular focus to the left flank along North Gate, the most likely route for any attackers. Gunports in south-west corner of the city walls are put at alternate heights, for overlapping fire. The first documentary record of Canterbury's guns appears in 1403, when it is clear that there were several kept in the West Gate.
  A second wave of work took place on the city walls in the late 15th century. Backed by substantial communal effort and financial contributions, Newingate was rebuilt between 1450 and 1470, and probably closely resembled the West Gate in style. Burgate was rebuilt in brick from 1475 onwards, again thanks to public contributions, but it was not completed until 1525, furnished with gunports and anachronistic battlements. Queningate was closed up at shortly after the 15th century, probably following the construction of a new postern gate nearby. West Gate was appointed the city gaol in 1453 by Henry VI, with Canterbury Castle serving as the county gaol.
  In contrast to Wat Tyler's entrance in 1381, in 1450, Jack Cade and 4,000 rebels were barred entry from the city at West Gate. In 1533, Canterbury reacted with concern to the news of Thomas Wyatt's rebellion in Kent; repairs were made to the walls, guns and ammunition mobilised, and the Riding Gate was blocked up. Queen Mary later thanked the city for their efforts.
caption: John Speed's depiction of Canterbury and the city walls, around 1610
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