ABSTRACT
The massive town defences, thought by earlier historians to be Roman, formed part of a defensive complex contemporary with the medieval castle. The acquisition of market and borough charters have conventionally been seen by historians as essential requirements for successful medieval towns. Oxford and Cambridge survived the dissolution and unlike the monasteries were able to build on their medieval reputations, eventually coming to dominate their mother cities. The grid of streets in the vicinity of the cathedral dates from the ninth century and the modern inner ring road precisely follows the line of the Saxon and later medieval defences. Although many ecclesiastical buildings such as urban monasteries, chantry chapels and hospitals have fared badly, the medieval church has survived as the most visible remnant of the medieval town. The combined bridging point and estuarine seaport soon grew as an important borough trading in wool, leather, and other merchandise and became the outstanding coal export centre of medieval England.
