Tenby town walls
The Tenby town walls are Grade I-listed medieval defensive walls around the town of Tenby in Pembrokeshire. They are assessed as one of the most important surviving medieval city walls in Britain. The walls were built in the 13th century by the Earls of Pembroke and improved in the 1450s. They were last known to have been repaired in 1588 and have declined thereafter. Most of the town's gates were demolished beginning in the 18th century and only one survives.
History
The Marshal family, Earls of Pembroke to 1245, may have started construction of the walls, replacing an earthen rampart of the late 12th century, and their successor as Earl William de Valence instigated more permanent walls after Tenby was sacked in 1260 by Llewelyn ap Gruffydd.By the start of the fourteenth century, the walls were mostly completed so diminishing the defensive importance of Tenby Castle. In 1328, they were further strengthened when a D-shaped barbican was built to defend the town's main gate and additional D-shaped towers were later added to the northern and southern walls. Throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Tenby received various royal grants to finance the maintenance and improvement of the town walls as well as enclosing Tenby harbour.
A later Earl, Jasper Tudor, ordered the walls repaired and improved in 1457. They were raised in height and widened to allow the garrison to move about freely. The moat surrounding the town was also widened to a width of. The walls were repaired in 1588; there is a tablet on the wall commemorates the work.
In the mid 16th century, another large D-shaped tower was built in the Elizabethan period following fears about a second Spanish Armada.