page_title: Burh
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Burh / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: City Walls, Winchester. Saxon and medieval work on Roman foundations.
context_page_description: A burh or burg was an Old English fortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions by Vikings prompted Alfred the Great to develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new constructions; others were situated at the site of Iron Age hillforts or Roman forts and employed materials from the original fortifications. As at Lundenburh, many were also situated on rivers: this facilitated internal lines of supply while aiming to restrict access to the interior of the kingdom for attackers in shallow-draught vessels such as longships.
  Burhs also had a secondary role as commercial and sometimes administrative centres. Their fortifications were used to protect England's various royal mints.
context_section_description: The burhs were made in a variety of different ways, depending on materials available locally, and the size of the settlement or area it was intended to defend.
  Frequently, a burh was built on the site of pre-existing fortifications. Sometimes, the Anglo-Saxons would simply repair old Roman walls in towns such as Winchester, Exeter, York, Burgh Castle, Portchester and Dover. At other times, they would build on the site of old Iron Age forts, such as Dover, utilising the old ditches and ramparts.
  However, the Anglo-Saxons did not just use old fortifications. Many of the burhs built by the Saxons were entirely new fortified sites, built on strategic sites on the coast, near ports or overlooking roads and trade routes. Substantial new towns were built on flat land with a rectangular layout, at for example Oxford, Wallingford, Cricklade and Wareham.
  Traditionally, burhs were constructed first with a massive series of banks fronted by a ditch. The bank was typically timber faced and timber revetted.  This was topped by a wooden palisade of stakes, up to 10 feet (3.0 m) high, with a walkway. At towns such as Tamworth, the ramparts would decay and push outwards over time, meaning that the ditch and bank would deteriorate. To solve this, Anglo-Saxon builders faced banks with stone, thus further reinforcing the defences and improving their life span.
caption: The walled defence round a burh. Alfred's capital, Winchester. Saxon and medieval work on Roman foundations.
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