the building history
12th and 13th Century Bridgnorth
In the 12th Century under the Royal Patronage of King Henry I, the town of Bridgnorth grew up around the castle, as tradesmen came to deliver goods to the castle. In order to protect the developing town, an earthen wall was thrown up, creating an outer ditch and ramparts that were topped with an oak palisade. Outsiders brought goods into the town to sell in the market held in the Great Brug or High Street, as indeed they do today.
Visitors to the town, entered Bridgnorth through one of its five gates: Cowgate in Cartway, Listley Gate, near the Library, West Gate at the end of Listley Street, Whitburn Gate at the end of Whitburn Street, and finally the surviving Northgate, where the museum is situated. Every trader who entered the town, paid a toll called the murage tax on every item and animal that passed through the gates. This money was spent between 1212 and 1260 on replacing the wooden stockade with a stone wall, but it is unlikely that it was ever completed around the Northgate and Churchyard area, either being seen as too expensive or unnecessary.
The Medieval period
During the Medieval period, Northgate would have looked very different from the way that it looks today. It would have had a small tower at each end, which would have housed spiral staircases. The stone walls were covered in wooden shingles (tiles) and in the centre of the roof stood a wooden tower. The roof was high enough to have housed a portcullis, but there is no record of this.
17th Century
During the Civil War (1642-1646) Bridgnorth was one of the main Royalist strongholds in the area. Following a three week siege of the Castle in 1646, the Royalists surrendered the town. St Leonard's Church and the Castle were both heavily damaged in the fighting. The Keep of the Castle was damaged to such an extent that it now rests an angle greater than that of the Tower of Pisa in Italy.
To find out more about Northgate and history, follow this link: more about the history of Northgate
