The origin of towns

Many towns evolved on strategic sites, such as on a river crossing, near a border or around a monastery, cathedral or castle. Transport links to road or river routes were an important factor in the success of a town, as was location. A thriving town would need to be easily accessible to settlements in the surrounding area.

Towns which grew out of successful settlements and villages are often called organic towns. The historian Maurice Beresford (in New Towns of the Middle Ages, Macmillan, 1999) divides medieval towns into two distinct categories, planned and organic towns. More recent scholarship, however, disputes this clear-cut division and asserts that all towns have an element of planning which can be seen in regular burgage plots (the citizens owned their houses but paid an annual fee for the plots of land they were built on), or a laid-out market place.

People soon realised that towns could bring profit. Successful markets and fairs, tolls charged at the gates, the fines raised from courts, the rent for burgage plots ... there were many ways in which a town could bring in revenue for its overlord. That is why many new towns were built deliberately, either on a new site or in place of an existing village. These towns are called planned towns or sometimes planted towns.

Planned towns

New towns were planned. The land was often drained and the streets laid out with gravel or cobbles. A market place (often wedge-shaped) was situated at one end with room for people to set up stalls and shops. Rectangular plots of land were laid out with the narrow front to the main street. People rented these plots and built their homes on them. At the back of the houses were yards, outbuildings, wells and rubbish pits. Some people kept chickens and pigs and some had small town gardens.

However well a town was laid out, though, there were no sewers or running water and rubbish was thrown into the streets. Medieval towns were smelly places!

Town Charters

A charter is a legal document. In the Middle Ages, the king or overlord of a town could grant his townspeople permission to do things, such as hold an annual fair, and the townspeople would receive a charter outlining this particular right. Medieval charters are often very attractive documents, written by trained scribes in Latin on vellum (pigskin) and rolled and sealed with the seal of the lord who had the charter issued.

Sometimes towns received a charter that allowed a wall to be built around the town with gates that could be locked. Defensive walls were not only useful for keeping out attackers. (In Hereford the walls were specifically constructed to defend against attacks by the Welsh.) They also gave the burghers control over who came into the town, and merchants could be charged tolls for bringing goods to a fair or market.

In Hereford, for example, the town was granted the right to charge tolls on goods brought for sale into the town over the Wye Bridge. This was to help pay for the repair of the bridge which at the time was in a poor condition. (Jancey 1973).
 
An earlier charter helped the citizens of Hereford to raise money for building the wall:

"Edward I grants to the bailiff and worthy men of Hereford the right to levy, for a period of five years, specified tolls on goods coming into the town for sale there, this revenue to be used for walling the city." (Murage grant, 1298 - Jancey 1973)

The Historic Environment Record contains 29 records relating to parts of the old town wall of Hereford. To access these you need to look under "site type" for "town wall".

[Original author: Toria Forsyth-Moser, 2002]