Oxford (England) -- History; University of Oxford -- History
Thus Domesday Book gives us a glimpse of a compact little town within a
vallum, half a mile from east to west, and a quarter of a mile south to
north. We may think of the gravel promontory as covered with houses and
their gardens, and inhabited by some thousand souls.
A market-place there would have been at or near Carfax, and fairs must
have been held there, though we have no mention of them till the reign
of Henry I.
The "wall" of the enceinte, which, according to Domesday Book, the
inhabitants of the mural mansions were compelled to repair, was probably
a vallum of earth faced with stone, protected by a deep ditch in front,
and surmounted by wood-work to save the soldiers from arrows.
D'Oigli, we may presume, put the existing fortifications of the town in
order.
The fortifications, which were constructed in the reign of Henry III.,
followed in the main the line of the vallum repaired by D'Oigli. They
consisted of a curtain wall and outer ditch, protected by a parapet and
by round towers placed at regular intervals and advanced so as to
command besiegers who might approach to attack the wall. There were
staircases to the top of the towers. A good idea of them and the general
scheme of the fortifications may be obtained by a visit to the fragment
of the city wall which yet remains within the precincts of New College.
The Slype, as it is called, forms a most picturesque approach to New
College Gardens, and the old-bastioned wall forms part of the boundary
between the New College property and Holywell Street. It is indeed owing
to this fact that the wall still remains there intact, for the licence
to found a College there was granted to William of Wykeham on condition
of keeping the city wall in repair and of allowing access to the mayor
and burgesses once in three years to see that this was done, and to
defend the wall in time of war. From New College the city wall ran down
to the High Street.[5]
The East Gate Hotel, facing the new schools, marks the site of the old
entrance to the city hereabouts. It is a recent construction in
excellent taste by Mr E. P. Warren. From this point the wall ran on to
Merton, and thence to Christ Church. The south wall of the Cathedral
chapter house is on the line of the old city wall. It is said that some
of the old wall was taken down for the erection
[Illustration: The Bastion and Ramparts in New College]
of the College Hall. Along the north side of Brewer Street (Lambard's
Lane, Slaying Lane or King's Street) are here and there stones of the
city wall, if not remnants of the walling. At the extreme end of Brewer
Street the arch of Slaying Lane Well is just visible, once described as
"under the wall."
[Illustration: City Walls]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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