Burh

The burh wall at Wallingford

A Burh is an Anglo-Saxon name for a fortified town or other defended site, such as a hill fort. The boundaries of ancient burhs can often still be traced to modern urban borough limits. A 10th century document called the Burghal Hidage cites 30 burhs in Wessex, and 3 in Mercia (then under the domination of the West Saxon kings), built to defend the region against Viking raids. Most of these were founded by Alfred the Great, some based on pre-existing Roman structures, some newly built, though some may have been built later. Athelstan granted these burhs the right to mint coinage. The largest were at Winchester, Wallingford and Warwick, whilst Wallingford and Wareham are the best preserved examples, with substantial ditches and banks still visible. It has been estimated that construction of Wallingford's 9,000 feet of bank would have taken more than 120,000 man hours. Burh towns also usually had regular street layouts, some of which are also preserved.

See also

• Burgh
• Borough
• History of the English borough

External links

• 33 Burhs listed in the Burghal Hidage

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