Worcester city walls description and photos - Great Britain: Worcester (Topic)

Worcester city walls description and photos - Great Britain: Worcester. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. English title - Worcester city walls.

Photo and description

Like all medieval cities, the old English city of Worcester has always been surrounded by fortress walls. They marked the border of the city's possessions and defended the city from attacks in those distant turbulent times.

The Romans erected the first fortifications here in the 1st century AD. Archaeologists believe that at first there was a Roman fort, and then a small city appeared, like most Roman cities - rectangular in plan, where the streets intersect at a right angle. The city was surrounded not only by wooden walls, but also by a wide, about 30 m, moat.

After the Angles, Saxons and Jutes came to Britain, Worcester became the capital of the ancient kingdom of Hwiss, which would later become part of the kingdom Mercia. The boundaries of the city have expanded significantly, a special tax was collected to keep the walls in order. The Normans, who came to Britain with William the Conqueror, built a castle in Worcester, which very well fit into the existing city fortifications. The urban area has long stretched beyond the boundaries delineated by the old walls.

During the struggle for power between King Stephen of Blois and Empress Matilda, Worcester changed hands several times, not far from him were the key battles of this war. The chronicles of the siege of the city testify that the walls no longer surrounded the city in a continuous ring. At the end of the 12th century, a new stage in the construction of the city walls begins, this time from stone. They were surrounded by a moat filled with water.

When the civil war broke out again in England in the 17th century, it was decided to strengthen the city walls, taking into account that that wars were already fought with the use of firearms and artillery.

Only a few fragments of the city walls have survived to this day. These fragments are owned by different owners, and the Worcester City Council is working hard to coordinate the conservation and restoration of the wall fragments.

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Topic: Worcester city walls description and photos - Great Britain: Worcester.