Getting to know Exeter City Wall

About

The Devon Archaeological Society (DAS) exists to preserve and promote the archaeology of the county. The Society has a long-standing interest in the Exeter city wall and conducted some of the earliest excavations on the wall and its associated ramparts and ditches in the 1930s. More than 70% of the circuit of the wall survives as standing masonry, but this is not well known amongst Exonians, perhaps because the gates (demolished between 1769 and 1819) and associated walling have been removed on the lines of the main streets.

This event will aim to raise awareness of the wall by offering guided walks along key sections from bases near the East and South Gates. Trustees and members of the Society will lead short tours of sections of the wall throughout the day, highlighting surviving Roman masonry in particular but also showing medieval and later repairs and rebuilds. Base stations at the site of the south gate in South Street and at Eastgate, in the Princesshay precinct, will be staffed by trustees and members to provide information, including society publications, and answer questions. We aim, by this means, to emphasise the extent of the surviving monument, to bring to greater attention the fact that much of the circuit is accessible from public streets and parks, to promote interest in the archaeology of Exeter, and to encourage interested members of the public to join the Society and participate in its aims of promoting the archaeology of the county more generally.