The Building of Coventry's City Wall - Introduction

n January 1329 King Edward III granted permission to the Prior and 'goodmen' of Coventry to collect taxes, specifically to fund the building of a protective "Town Wall". By that time, Coventry had built up some considerable wealth, was one of the four most important cities in England, and may have been considered a strategic target in times of war. Just like York in the north, and Bristol in the south-west, Coventry could be regarded as the principal town of the midlands, and our city did indeed lay at an important geographical intersection, passed through by many travellers on their north-south journeys.

I've used several illustrations throughout this section to portray the gates which are no longer standing. Some are scans of Victorian engravings, but if not stated, then they are drawings by Coventry artist, David Hale.

Building didn't begin until 1355 with the laying of the first stone by mayor Richard Stokes at New Gate, (the London Road entrance, pictured left). There is a little uncertainty about the date of starting; one book of annals gives the date as 1356. This, however, is a possibility, as Stokes was elected mayor in early 1355, but the new mayor wouldn't have taken office until Candlemas day (2nd February) the following year.

Although the circuit was reported in the City Annals to have been finished after forty one years, much repair work and re-routing of the wall was still to be carried out, and our defensive structure in its final form was completed 179 years later, in 1534, giving it a total circumference of 2 1/8 miles. At around eight feet thick, over twelve feet high and punctuated by twenty towers and twelve proud gates, it was thought by some to be the most impressive city wall in the country, equal if not greater than that around London.

The tax collected was known as "murage" which is based on the Latin word "murus", meaning "wall". The initial request for the tax was for a period of six years, but the king's brother, John de Eltham (also the Earl of Cornwall) had this extended for a further two years in an attempt to avoid having to foot the bill, as he was due to succeed Queen Isabella as the Lord of Cheylesmore Manor.

Swanswell Gate and part of the City Wall from the west

Unsurprisingly, and something with which we're quite familiar in this modern age, the whole project was neither on time nor within budget!

Some sources report thirty two towers plus twelve gates, and although this cannot be proven to be incorrect, it seems most likely to me that this total of thirty two included the gates. John Speeds map of 1610 shows twelve gates and twenty towers, and the accuracy of this important cartographic record cannot easily be dismissed.

Sadly, the finished wall stood for less time than it took to build. In 1662 King Charles II ordered for the wall to be slighted (demolished) leaving only the gates intact. Charles' justification for this vengeful act was that our wall, amongst others, had kept his father (Charles I) at bay during the civil war just a few years earlier. (See "Sent to Coventry".) Similarly, the walls of Gloucester and Northampton plus Taunton Castle were also demolished.

The Earl of Northampton was given the task of destroying our wall, and with the aid of a reported 500 men, demolition began on the 22nd July 1662. The work took approximately three weeks; the Earl and his men being lavishly entertained and housed in the city during this time. It seems that he received no hostile reception for carrying out this sombre deed!

The Twelve Gates....

Beginning near Pool Meadow and moving anticlockwise around Coventry, the twelve gates were:

Swanswell gate (also known as Priory gate) - built 1461, still standing - see photo above.
Cook Street gate (sometimes referred to as Tower gate) - built c1385, still standing.
Bishop gate (a reference to the Bishop's route between Coventry and Lichfield).
Well Street gate.
Hill Street gate - built c1395, rebuilt 1423.
Spon gate (also called Bablake gate) - built 1372 - demolished 1771.
Greyfriars gate (The main route to Warwick) - demolished 1781.
Cheylesmore gate.
Little Park gate.
New gate (entrance to the London Road; the first gate to be built.) - demolished 1762.
Gosford gate - demolished in 1765.
Mill Lane gate (originally known as Bastille gate) - rebuilt 1512-14 - demolished 1849.

See the 1610 map of Coventry to find out how the wall and gates were arranged. In this 2000 map you can see the exact course that the wall would have taken had it still been standing today. I have highlighted the surviving sections of the wall in red and linked each of them to the relevant parts in this section so that you can easily locate the remains for yourselves using the photographs.

Next - a tour around the complete surviving remains of out City Wall, beginning with.... Swanswell Gate

Introduction & History - > Swanswell Gate

Click here to see the exact route of the complete wall overlaid onto a present day map.