The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
Chapter Four
The town wall ran for about 2,238 yards, with ten gates
and fifteen towers. The licence for a wall and
ditch
, was
granted in 1260 by Henry III, by letters patent, on 28th
Sept. in the 45th. year of his reign. Swinden thought
that the work was started in about the 13th. year of the
reign of Edward I, and finished 126 years later, in the
tenth year of Richard II. The work to build the wall
was delayed for many years after the decimation of the
population by the great plague of 1349.
The Walls, Towers, and
Fortifications.
The North-West Tower and the river Bure
Regarding the origins of the wall, there is some
substance given to the claim that there was a wall
around the town earlier than the present one.
Swinden’s History
A quotation from Swinden’s History, page 80:
“Besides, whereas for the aforesaid wall, there is
granted by consent of the commonality of the town
aforesaid,
a certain old
wall
, without the said town,
for the augmentation an expedition of the work
aforesaid. There is paid by the hand of the said
wardens, the same year to Thomas Wency, Robert
King and John Mole,
breakers down of the said wall,
at times, 40 shillings.” This certainly substantiates
the presence of some sort of stone wall, constructed
prior
to 1260, at least. “And for the stones broken
down the same year for the new wall, £1/19/10” (in
1336). Swinden quoted Manship page 99, saying
(about the moat) “passable with boats and keels
which did convey things necessary for such as did
inhabit upon the Deneside or east part of Yarmouth”.
Just what this may be inferred to mean in terms of
the ditch or moat seems to me to be unclear. There
is no original document referred to in this matter.
Swinden also states that a number of fines were
levied upon persons for filling up the ditch with
stones or rubbish, but again doesn’t quote any actual
documents, although from the details given, it seems
reasonable that they did indeed exist.
60
The North West Tower, by Cotman
A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
Tower 1
Swinden (p. 92), says that in the
36th.year of Henry VIII, war having
been proclaimed against France and
Scotland, a special commission
was directed to Thomas, Duke of
Norfolk to examine the fortifications
of Yarmouth, and he ordered all the
gardens adjacent to the wall to be
laid open, (south facing gardens,
protected from sea breezes) and
caused a great part of the walls to be
rampired or backed up with earth to
strengthen them (perhaps this could
be a reference to why there was so
much imported earth within the
town for the gardens to grow crops
- market gardening! Duke Thomas
(Duke of Norfolk) caused all the
little sand-hills on the Denes to be
brought into the town and laid at
the back of the walls, and the whole
town was thus strongly fortified against France and
Scotland within the space of 14 weeks. This additional
work was improved in 1557, (5th year of the reign of
Queen Mary), with work three days a week, but the
walls were not completely rampired until 1587, by
which time they were banked up on the inside from
Blackfriars to the Market Gate.
[i]
T1
Rampart Road and the
North-West Tower, 26.8.2005.
Tower 2
Left and top left, detail
from the Elizabethan
pictorial map.
A year later the Blackfriars and the Priory were
also rampired with earth, and a ravelin (a built-up
gun platform) was constructed on the east side of
the Blackfriars site. (This ravelin had been removed
again long before Swinden described the walls.) There
is a drawing of these extra fortifications, known as
the Yorke Map, kept at Hatfield House, but most likely some of
the work was only planned, and never built. The moat outside
the town walls was said to be “digged and completed also”, but
there has been no sign of a moat archaeologically, south of the
new gate. Swinden’s plan shows the moat to have only been dug
as far as the Market Gate, and it also shows extra Elizabethan
walls appended to the main wall outside the north east corner
Below right, Henry
Swinden’s Map,
detail of the North-
West Tower.
T1
T2
The wall down Rampart Row before
demolition
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The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
Top left corner of Henry Swinden’s Map
(1758, but the 5 could be a 3.)
The Gates and Towers
Proceeding around the wall from the North-west,
I have numbered each tower and gate.
T1.The North-West Tower,
described earlier, is still standing also see North
Quay (volume 2)
Henry
Swinden
says that
this was
the site of
the Roman
Fort
This is a ruined old
fortification.
T2.The Rampart Tower
(my name) is an intermediate tower, not often
described. It was half way along Ramp Row
at an early date. Rampart Road is not a main
thoroughfare, and my suggestion is that it could
be excavated to reveal the ruins that are still
present below, as a tourist attraction. Even
better would be to rebuild the missing walls and
towers, and even the gates, with traffic routed
through an underpass to an underground car
T7
Tower 1
T4
T2
park, whilst the town above is
for pedestrians. This Rampart
tower, demolished at an early
date, was seen as a round
tower with two storeys and a
castellated battlement in the
Elizabethan picture.
T2
Gate 1
G1
Detail from the
Elizabethan pictorial
map (left).
T3
T3.The North Gate (below),
had stout doors and a double portcullis.
Demolished in 1837, it had presented a fine
sight with its two stout towers, when encountered
on the Norwich Road, (which then ran through
Caister and Filby and Fleggburgh to Acle).
Above, the North Gate
on the Elizabethan Map,
and left, in detail of Henry
Swinden’s Map.
G1
In 1588, a boom was constructed across the
Haven, between two jetties. In 1590, east of
the boom, and outside of the South Gate, was
built a mound of earth, much higher than the
town wall, to command the river and the denes,
on which were placed several large cannon.
The cost of raising this mound was £125. This
information appears to have been gleaned by
Swinden directly from Manship’s History, who
is quoted, that the ruins of the charnel house
of St. Nicholas church, were used to build the
lower walls of the mount in 1588.
62
The North Gate.
A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
T5
T7 King
Henry’s
Tower
(photo
1987).
T7
Tower 5, the Elizabethan
“Fortress”
T6
The Maygrove Tower
T3
T4
Tower 6 (two Elizabethan
Towers).
T4. The Corner (Maygrove)
Tower,
is still standing in Maygrove.
T5.The Elizabethan Fortress (top left),
(my name). Just south of the above tower still standing, there
is on the Elizabethan map, a set of towers never described in
any work that I have seen and which looks to have been a me-
dieval or Elizabethan Castle. There is the possibility (from the
design of the wall, which was surely this shape to incorporate
some structure from the earliest date) that there may be Roman
origins still remaining below ground. This site begs archaeo-
logical investigation.
T6.The Elizabethan Towers
(above, centre left),
(my name). There were two towers fur-
ther along toward King Henry’s Tower,
one small one built against another
that looks as though it could have been
inhabited. These are depicted on the
Elizabethan map.
The Maygrove Tower
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The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
Henry Swinden’s Map (detail)
T7
T7.King Henry’s Tower (left),
still standing, once had a crenellated top, windows, a
curtain wall and a fence. The lower part of the tower
survives and is still filled with bones from the plague. It
looks strange on the Elizabethan map, as it had a flying
spur wall to the north-east angle.Old bones were taken
there from the churchyard. When new graves were dug
in ancient times, the bones disturbed were thrown in a
heap into the tower.
T8
T8 and T9,
towers on Swinden’s map, not seen else-
where.
King Henry’s Tower in Elizabethan times
T9
T10
Tower 7
Tower 10
T11
T10. St. Nicholas’ Tower and gate,
(above right),
long demolished, is seen due east of St. Nicholas
Church on the Elizabethan map. This second Gate
was also a tower, with the gateway was through the
centre. It had flying buttresses with small towers
attached.
Tower 11
G12
T11. The Priory Tower,
(my name) was a tower adjacent to
the Dominican Priory. It is clearly
shown on the Elizabethan map,
but not described by Swinden,
so presumably was demolished
between 1600 and 1730 (tower in
the centre of the picture). Swinden
showed four towers between King
Henry’s Tower and the Pudding
Gate.
64
T12.The Pudding Gate/Tower,
was on the route out of the town now
known as St. Nicholas Road. It was a
plain square tower with a gate in its
centre. It is thought to have taken its
name from the slaughter of animals
outside it, from whose blood was
derived black pudding.
A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
G15 The Market Gate,
on Market Road, immediately North of the
“Market Gates” shopping precinct. This
part of the wall was demolished in 1830,
although a small part remained until 1874,
when the road was again widened.
Henry Swinden’s Map, 1758
G15 Market Gate
(detail) next page.
Plan of
Dissenters’
Graveyard
T13. The Hospital Tower,
is still in a good state of preservation and to be found
within the Dissenters’ Graveyard, up a passage north
of the Co-op store. In Palmer’s time, this tower had a
house upon it. Alcoholics and drug addicts, and rough
sleepers have used the graveyard. It has therefore had
to be kept locked most of the time now.
T14. The Market
Tower,
still visible in
Cooper’s car park,
the crenellated top has
been removed.
T16. The Guard Tower,
is a small tower, still to be found on the portion of wall
preserved in the middle of the Market Gates shopping
complex. How splendid a full reconstruction would
look. It was attached to a small garrison, just inside
the wall. At some time long gone, the top portion was
evidently taken down.
Henry Swind-
en’s plan of the
Hospital School
(below).
Tower 16
Part of the town wall is still present under the former Water Co.
offices at no. 83 York Road in the cellar (photo. 1988).
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The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
G13
The wall behind the Hospital School, 26.8.05.
T14
G15
The Dissenters’ Graveyard, 26.8.05.
T16
The Hospital School,
26.8.2005.
G17
G17 The Theatre
Gate,
was demolished in
1776, and stood across the
road that is now Regent
Road.
Again, a reconstruction
would be an enormous
attraction. At different
times it was called Oxney’s
Gate, Steele’s Gate and
Mitchelson’s Gate.
66
A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
Harris’ Tower
now has a house
on top of it! In the
19th. century, the
Hospital Tower had
a house on it also.
T18 The Ravelin.
New building around the
West end of St. George’s
Road has absorbed the
ravelin. The ravelin here
was constructed in 1569,
and a second small rave-
lin outside it, in 1577(see
the Yorke map).A small
gate to the south was
walled up before 1643.A
very small part remains
(left, 8.11.06).
T22
G21
(Not on the Elizabethan
map, inserted after.)
G21 Ames’ Gate,
Harris’ Gate, Little
Mount Gate, Apple-
by’s or Norfor’s Gate,
demolished in 1804, then
known as Drum, or York
opening. (Drum Public
House, York Road)
not
on
the Elizabethan map, in-
serted
after
to create York
Road.
T22
T19 The Tower in the Park,
still standing, has a conical roof
and a weather vane with the date
1680. It is to be found at the back
of the car park of Park House
residential home for the elderly,
Alexandra Road.
T22 Harris’ Tower
Still present on the east wall
of Woodhall Hotel or the
old vicarage, to the north of
Lancaster Road, the top was
taken down in 1642.
G20 New Gate
is no longer standing, but
was inserted in this part of
the wall between the park
tower and Harris’ Tower.
also had a tower beside it.
Having been new built in
Elizabethan times, hence
the name. It was opposite
the east end of Yarmouth
way, and a small portion of
the tower can still be seen
beside the road at the south
end of Alexandra Road.
G23 Lancaster Gate
inserted in the wall after
1758, so not on the Swind-
en’s Map. It would have re-
duced the effective defence.
It gave rise to Lancaster
Road.
G25
The
new
gate
G24 Symond’s
Gate
gave rise to jetty Road,
now St Peter’s Road (see
next page).
There is a small remnant
of the new gate
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The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
G24 White Lion Gate or Ropemaker’s Gate,
once known as Symond’s Gate from the family of the
name, who owned land and property here, including the
Old White Lion Inn. It was situated on Jetty Road, which
has been renamed as St. Peter’s Road. It was demolished
in 1745, by William Norfor, who was given permission
because some nails were sticking out and catching on
and tearing nets carried through it
(they could have removed the nails!)
Inside the wall at position A
on Swinden’s map
(next page)
The Jews’ Cemetary at the Alma Gate, 1987.
G25 Garden Gate,
at the end of Alma Road, has the Jews’ Cemetery
beside it on the outside of the wall. The wall
around the Jews’ cemetery was rebuilt in 2001.
The building on Blackfriars Road opposite was
the Victoria Garden Public House, denoting the
splendid gardens to be found here in the 19
th
century. Even the pub has been demolished and
replaced by three very ordinary modern terraced
houses (1999/2000). This gate was known as
Moyse’s, Colby’s, and Stephenson’s Gate, at
different times, and demolished in 1776.
This part of the Elizabethan map, is
very out of scale.
It shows the
wall, and the
garden gate
was a later
68
A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
Detail of Henry Swinden’s Map
Re-roofing
the North
West Tower,
1987.
T22
G24
A (see prev page)
Demolition of the Victoria Gardens
Public House.
G25
The author on
an excursion to
Baconsthorpe
Castle
T26
Baconsthorpe Castle was the residence of Sir
John Heydon, one of the judges in the case
concerning Sir John Fastolf’s will
69
The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
The South-East Tower at a time when houses were
built upon the outside of the wall, creating Blackfriars
T26 South-East Tower,
attached to the pottery and an old
disused smoke-house, has in it, a well
that is still useable. An old lady at one
time lived in the tower, who was a
candle maker. Tallow was found to have
dripped through the floorboards and
into the well below. The tower is well
worth a visit, and the pottery contains
a museum, all run by Mr. Childs, who
makes all sorts of Yarmouth decorative
mugs as well as other gifts.
In the picture of the well, my two
youngest daughters, Samantha and
Sheena are seen peering down, in 1984
(next page).
South-east
To w e r,
west side.
70
A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
T26
Inside the pottery at the South-
east Tower, 1982.
Alma
Gate
South-
east
Tower
18.5.2006
71
The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
72
South-east Tower, 18.5.2006.
A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
The wall at Blackfriars Road 17.3.2005
73
The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
Henry Swinden’s Map, 1758.
T 27 Blackfriars Tower
was always known as such from the adjacent mon-
astery. Nowadays there is a gateway through the
tower, but this is a modern feature. There was once
a guard tower on the first floor. Ten skeletons were
discovered near here in decayed wooden coffins, in
1850, some 70 yards to the South of the tower.
T28 South Tower (my name)
was the last before reaching the South Gate. Some
18 feet in breadth, it is still standing, but was once
taller.
T27
T28
Blackfriars Tower
South Tower
T28
T27
74
A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
G29 South Gate or Great Gate.
This was a splendid edifice. There are many well-
known prints depicting both the outside and inside
faces. The main structure was demolished in 1812.
There is a little known picture of the remains of the
West tower , when it had been purchased prior to final
demolition in 1867. The original of this drawing is
in Rumbelow’s diary.
7 yards. Steel’s gate
to the guard tower,
76 yds., this tower
8 yds. broad,
where there was an
enclosure inside the
town walls, called
the “main guard”.
From that gate to
the Market gate,
68 yds. The market
gate, with a square
tower, was about
18 yds. in breadth.
From the market
gate to the Hospital
Tower was 78 yds.,
and the latter tower
was 8 yds. broad.
From the Hospital
Tower to the Pudding Gate was 78 Yards, which, with
its tower was 8 yards broad. On the east of that was the
burial ground for those who died of the plague in 1579,
at which time some 43 persons died in one day.
The dimensions of parts of the walls were given by
Swinden as follows:
The breadth of the 7th.
(Swinden’s numbering and
running South to North – the reverse way
) tower- 9
yards. To the 6th gate, (Oxney’s, or Steele’s Gate)-
83 yds. from the 7th. The breadth of Oxney’s Gate,
being also a tower- including both the gate and tower,
G29
The South Gate
G29
The Pudding Gate- From the Pudding Gate to St. Nicholas
tower, was 198 yards. The Pudding Gate has been
considered recently to take its name from the slaughter
houses nearby, where they made blood pudding.
The St. Nicholas tower also had its own gate, 8 yards
wide, but which when Swinden described it had already
been walled up for many years.
From St. Nicholas tower to King Henry’s tower was
measured as being 34 yds., and Swinden gives the
circumference of King Henry’s tower as 20 yds.
From there to the next corner of the wall was 136 yds.,
from there to the next tower and corner, 86 yds.
The South Gate, part demolished
The distance from that corner to the North Gate is given
a s 48 yds., and the breadth of the gate, with
its tower, 22 yards. The breadth of the
gate within the tower, 4 yards.
From the north gate to the intermediate
tower was 96 yards, with the distance
from there to the North-West Tower 93
yds., leaving a further 11 yards to the end
of the wall beside the river. The whole
distance then made 2238 yards, plus or
minus errors.
When Southey visited Yarmouth in 1798,
all of the old walls, towers, and gates
were still standing. What a magnificent
sight that must have been! They should
surely be rebuilt.
Date unknown, artist unknown,
sketch given to Philip Rumbelow by Miss Kemp of 53 King Street.
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The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
Many interesting features are depicted on the
Elizabethan pictorial map,
which can be found tightly
rolled in a cardboard box in the manuscript room at the
British Library. It is part of the Cottonian collection.
Sir Robert Cotton was an Elizabethan collector,
whose great collection actually formed the basis of
the inauguration of that museum. Although pictorial
rather than a modern type of map, and certainly not to
any scale, it shows a number of features that are not
readily if at all appreciated elsewhere. Even though
it may not be scale, it certainly looks as though the
sixth haven is about the
position of the power station
on the south denes (see pages 26,27). The two market
crosses are evident, also the stocks, the windmills,
the castle, and the ducking stool
(picture right).
The
towers show considerable accuracy of rendition, with
their striking brickwork. Features as known today
seem well represented, so I think that we should take
particular note of those that are now missing.
The bridge and ducking stool
Nets drying and windmills on the Denes
(below).
Market crosses and wells.
76
A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
Napoleonic Fortifications
An interesting report was made on these fortifications by
Captain Whitmore, the Officer Commanding in 1811, it is full
of useful detail, as is a further report (possibly later the same
year) by Charles Frederick, the surveyor of the ordnance.
Both of these are given in full as follows-
1. A report on a condition of the South and North Star Batteries,
made (on) the 15th. May 1811, by George Whitmore, Captain
Commanding, Royal Engineers. Sent from the Royal Engineers
Office, Colchester:
Sir,
The strange round structure in the upper
right of the photo above, appears to show
the remains of the fort at the mouth of the
As I find it possible to prepare the report of the various works here and military in the eastern
district, without more delay than would be injurious to the necessary repairs of the Yarmouth
redoubts. I consider it my duty to make an immediate report on them, and to request your opinion
as to then mode of re-establishment which should be adopted. The north and south redoubts at
Yarmouth were established in the year 1795, by Capt. Sir J. Page, they contain each 12 pieces
of ordnance, and are in such a general state of decay that I do not apprehend any partial repair
could render them completely effective.
The old work from its exposure to the sea air and the shifting of the land is destroyed, the lower
floors of the blockhouses which stood within the works house, should make it become necessary
to fill up the ditches which surround them in order to pressure the building from falling. Both
floors were originally intended for the reception of stores, and the upper ones are still employed
as guard rooms. The ditches which surround the redoubts are filled up every winter with sand
6
,
which is now level with the sills of the entrances and has completely filled the stockade, and the
wooden platforms are generally insufficient.
Under these circumstances and if the probation of these fences deemed advisable it is evident they
must be restored rather than repaired, and as the heavy guard employed on the batteries are now
raised on (wooden?) platforms, perhaps it would be necessary to remove the works altogether.I
understand (stones?) are not to be procured, and consequently the revetment must be of brickwork
and instead of this seems the more essential as the perpetual juggling against the scarp counterscarp
and parapets to clear away the sand destroys any less permanent facing as effectually as the sea
breeze
7
. If therefore it is the pleasure of the board to repair these works, I shall be happy on
their instruction to forward the necessary projects and estimates. I beg however to observe that **?
towers seem to be particularly applicable to this situation that I should prefer them to any other
form of defence, and that the two pictures which accompany this report represent the batteries in
their original state rather than the present one.
I have the honour to be Sir, Your obedient humble servant, Geo. Whitmore,
Officer Commanding.
6, 7
References the inexorable build up of the sand blown
across the Denes.
Another document, headed “Remarks”, all written in
copperplate handwriting, as was the previous letter, this
one written on a journey to view the fortifications at
Yarmouth and the Languard Fort. (Harwich)
16th October from the Honourable Charles Frederick Esq., Lawyer and Surveyor General
of (?his) Majesties Ordnance.
At Mr. Latelier’s near Epping Forest from whence we proceeded through Rumford (Romford)
77
The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
and Ingatestone to Witham. On 17th. we passed through Colchester, and lay at Ipswich
(on) the 18th. visited Languard fort situated at the entrance of the harbour at Harwich, from
whence we proceeded that evening to Woodbridge, and the 19th. went to Beckles (Beccles).
The next day got to north Yarmouth where we stopped two days to view the town and castle.
The town of Yarmouth is encompassed with a kind of Roman
wall
1
on every side except the west, where it is secured by the river
Brayden (Breydon).
1
An interesting suggestion!
Swinden’s History, section 2, ancient
walls.
Swinden’s History, section 5, the
Spanish war and the additions to the
fortifications.
Section 13, the first six havens.
Palmer, vol 2, p246, towers.
Palmer, town battery, vol 3, p113
Palmer, vol 2, 209, town walls
(Extract from Robert Cory’s History)
Stern and Captain’s Quarters, Grand Turk,
10.9.06
78
A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
George Whitmore’s Plan of the North
Star Battery, May 1811. The two
Batteries stood on the Denes, menacing
seawards
.
Yarmouth was of use to the navy even
when the fleet ceased to use sailing
ships, since the sailors were catered for
in the Royal Naval Hospital dedicated
to St Nicholas, whilst the Local Militia
was often gathered on the South Denes.
A Naval airstation was built on the
South Denes early in the First World
War
(see Marine Parade).
The cavalry
with the Prince
of Wales leading
the local militia,
about 1895. At
the left edge of
the photo. is
the Britannia
column.
Below, the Barracks, about 1850.
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The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
1895, naval review, H.M.S. Blake, Blenheim, Brig, Majestic class battle ships,
H.M.S.Hazard.
H.M.S. Hearty, Speedy, Blake, Blenheim.
Off the South Denes in 1895, was a major Naval
Review. One of the senior Admirals at that
time was Admiral Sir Gerard Noel, Admiral of
the Nore, who came from Hunstanton. His son
settled at Hopton Hall, and there is a history of
his career with 43 King Street, (vol.3) where
numerous memorabilia are displayed.
famously responsible for successfully shooting down at
least one zeppelin in a night time raid.
The Prince of Wales, later Edward VII,
reviewing the troops on the South Denes,
about 1890.
The troops were camped on the Denes, and
Edward VII, when Prince of Wales, visited and
reviewed the local militia.
On the South Denes in the First World War, was
the Naval Air station. At that time there was no
R.A.F., not yet formed. The air squadron had its
biplanes ready to attack the zeppelins, Yarmouth
having been attacked in the very first ever aerial
bombing raid in 1915. Lt Cadbury, R.N., of the
chocolate family, was stationed here, and was
80
