The Walls of Derry: A Tapestry of Time and Tenacity

A Guide to the Maiden Cities Walls

Nestled in the northwest corner of Northern Ireland, Derry – or Londonderry, depending on whom you ask – stands as a city with a pulse that beats in rhythm with its storied past. Towering above its modern streets and historical landmarks are the ancient walls, silent witnesses to centuries of triumph, tragedy, conflict, and resilience. These walls have seen more than their share of history, from bloody sieges to peaceful rallies, all the while standing tall, encapsulating the indomitable spirit of the city and its people. In this journey, we’ll trace the footsteps of time, delving deep into the annals of history to uncover the stories and secrets behind the enduring Walls of Derry. Join us as we navigate the cobblestones of time, where each brick and battlement has a tale to tell.

Walled Cities

By the end of the 17th century, Ireland had over 40 fortified towns and cities – a few in Ulster. When the Walls of Derry were built between 1614 and 1619, they proved to be the most formidable and enduring in that province.

Similar fortifications are to be found throughout Europe today. In England, it is still possible to walk around the city Walls built at Chester 2,000 years ago by the Romans and at York by the Normans 900 years ago. But Derry is the only city in Ireland which has preserved its Walls in their entirety.

Derry’s Walls have survived in such good condition partly because they are so young – less than 400 years old – but mainly because so many citizens and organisations made sure over the centuries that this imposingly unique and central feature of our heritage should be preserved.

The story behind their construction and momentous history began in the 12th century.

Derry’s First Defences

((Insert First Map of Derry Dated 27th Dec 1600 image))

“The Iand and fort of Derry”, oldest known map of Derry, dated 27 December 1600, showing Docwra’s camp seven months after the initial landing.

In 1162, Flathbert O’Brolchain, a successor to St Columba, and Muirchertach O’Loughlin, an Irish Chieftain, removed over 80 dwellings to build an earth wall (known as a Cashel) around St Columba’s abbey in Derry. This is one of the earliest recorded defensive fortifications in Ulster.

Since the reign of Queen Mary (1553-1558), the English had wanted to occupy and fortify Derry as they considered it the cornerstone of their conquest of Ulster. In September 1566, they finally achieved their aim when Colonel Edward Randolph, who commanded a military force under Queen Elizabeth’s Lord Deputy Sir Henry Sidney, built the first English fortification of Derry. He expelled all the Irish inhabitants of the town and erected earthworks for the defence of the garrison. Randolph was destined to die a few months later when his forces clashed with those of Shane O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, who was attempting to wipe out the garrison.

These first military defences encompassed the site of Derry’s first cathedral, the Teampall Mór, built-in 1164 near St Columba’s original monastery. Today, the Long Tower Church stands in the same area.

In April 1567, an accidental fire spread to the Teampall Mór, which was being used as a magazine for gunpowder, causing a tremendous explosion. This destroyed the cathedral along with other church buildings and the soldiers’ quarters. As a direct result, the English forces sailed back home – leaving Derry in ruins for many years.

In 1600, the English returned, still determined to gain firm control of the area by establishing a permanent garrison in Derry. Sir Henry Docwra was sent by Lord Deputy Changes In 1689

After the Great Siege, the Corporation began to repair the badly damaged ramparts, Walls and Gates. The twelve leading London Companies contributed £100 each towards the Corporation’s costs, and essential reconstruction was carried out over the following few years.

In 1702, England was at war with Spain and France (The War of the Spanish Succession). The Corporation voiced vigorous alarm at the inadequacies of the city’s fortifications in case of ‘…the defence of this important place’. Captain Jean Thomas, the French engineer, was subsequently appointed by the Government to inspect Derry’s defences and make recommendations for their strengthening.

In 1705, he produced a detailed report and plan. In the event of an attack, a system would be activated to flood the low-lying area between the river at a spot beyond the foot of present-day Bishop Street and a point on the Strand Road, creating, in effect, an ‘island fortress’. At both these positions, ‘considerable fortifications’ were to be built. Additionally, a ‘citadel ‘ encompassing the area currently stretching from the bottom of Bishop Street up to Ferguson Street, including the grounds of St Columb’s College, was proposed to house the garrison, magazine and artillery. Thomas also planned for a ‘new town’ outside the Walls reaching the river’s edge to accommodate any Protestants who had to be brought in from outlying areas. As with previous projected improvements, Thomas’s vision of the city was never implemented.

The Walls and Gates were, nevertheless, carefully preserved over the next 80 years. Even the locks and keys of the Gates were kept in good repair. However, from the end of the 18th century, the Corporation instigated controversial plans which considerably altered the Walls’ appearance. It caused the original four Gates to be extensively rebuilt. The Walls as we know them today came about because of this significant period of change.

The many alterations and additions which took place could best be chronicled as follows:

Date Alterations

1789-90 Bishop’s Gate was levelled entirely, and a Triumphal Arch (with side passages for pedestrians) was erected in honour of King William III. The sculpted head on the outside is dated 1689 and represents the River Foyle. The one on the inside, dated 1690, represents the River Boyne.

1789 The towers and guardhouses were removed from Butcher’s Gate.

1789-95 An opening was made in the Walls between London Street and Hawkin Street, and a New Gate was erected.

1791 The guardhouse was removed from over Shipquay Gate.

1795 Ferryquay Gate was widened and ornamented.

1800 An amendment to the Bridge Act enabled the Corporation to remove all walls and gates for the betterment of the city and the convenience of the bridge built across the Foyle in 1790. (the Corporation, in reality, used the act sparingly, usually only to make essential alterations to the Walls.)

1803 A new Gate was opened in the Parade, now known as Castle Gate.

1805-10 The actual wooden gates were removed from the Gates.

1810 Butcher’s Gate was rebuilt entirely and ornamented. Gunner’s Bastion was also removed.

1810-24 Part of Hangman’s Bastion and all of Coward’s Bastion were removed.

1826 Governor Walker’s Pillar was erected in Royal Bastion. (It was demolished by a bomb in 1973.)

1837 An opening was made, and steps were built from Foyle Street onto East Wall through Water Bastion. Over the years, most of Water Bastion was also removed.

1861 A hotly debated opening in the Walls linked Orchard Street to Richmond Street. This is the only break in the circuit of the Walls where there is no gate.

1865 Magazine Gate was erected bearing the sculpted heads of Captain Adam Murray and David Cairns, leaders in the city’s defence, in 169.

1865 A section of the Walls between Shipquay Gate and Magazine Gate was heightened by 6 feet.

1866 New Gate and Ferryquay Gate were rebuilt. The keystones on the latter represent Rev George Walker and Rev James Gordon, leading defenders in the 1689 siege.

In 80 years, Derry’s Walls changed from a simple defensive fortification to an ornamented monument dedicated to those who had fought to protect their city some two centuries before

Mountjoy to occupy and fortify the town with a large force of men. His main task was to keep in check the Ulster Chieftains and try to get them to cooperate with the Crown. He landed virtually unopposed at Culmore on 16 May and, after fortifying the existing castle there, marched to Derry several days later. Docwra described his first view of the town in a report thus:

“A place in manner of an island comprehending within it 40 acres of ground, wherein were the ruins of an Abbay, of a Bishopp’s house, of two churches, and at one of the ends of it an old castle, the river called Loughfoyle encompassing it all on one side, and a bogg most cornonlie wet, and not easilie passible except in two or three places dividing it from the main land.”

Old Derry was rightly likened to an island because, in very early times, the river Foyle had divided, east and west, around the central hill of the town. The western branch had flowed roughly along the line of the present-day Lecky Road and Rossville Street. By 1600, however, this river branch had virtually disappeared, and most low-lying western areas had turned to marsh.

Using locally scavenged materials and their own provisions, Docwra’s men built two more forts. The lower one at the river’s edge (constructed around the ruins of the old O’Doherty castle) was for the stores. The upper or great fort on the high ground above was for the soldiers’ quarters and other housing. It was also to be used as the main retreat if under attack. These earthen defences and the large garrison of soldiers re-established a solid military presence in Derry.

Docwra’s fortifications covered only half of the area, later walled by the Irish Society of London. Most of it lay between the present-day St Augustine’s Church and the grounds of the Long Tower Church, roughly the terrain first fortified by Colonel Randolph. Several other dwellings were sited between the two forts on the slope of the hill.

(( INSERT IMAGE – Plan of Derry from 1603 showing Docwras Completed Forifications))

Plan of Derry in 1603 showing Docwra’s completed fortifications and plans for further improvements.

To further the English intention of having Derry as a commercial port, as well as a defensive garrison, King James I granted its first Charter of Incorporation in 1604. In addition, James also advocated the Walling of Derry, but this was not undertaken for several years.

Docwra left Derry in 1606, leaving Sir George Paulett in command. Paulett was disliked by both the Irish and the English as he had no military experience and was ill-mannered with everyone. His gross mismanagement allowed the fortifications to deteriorate, and his arrogant behaviour alienated Cahir O’Doherty, Chieftain of Inishowen. This resulted in O’Doherty using his secretly gained knowledge of the fortifications to attack and subdue the Culmorc garrison in April 1608. He went on to attack the Derry forts, where Paulett was killed, and the city was taken after two days of fighting.

O’Doherty’s forces eventually departed the ransacked city a few weeks later, leaving only the battered ramparts of the Walls and the church still standing. Once again, Derry’s defences had tumbled – this time at the hands of an enemy.

A contingent of soldiers under Captain John Vaughan recovered the city shortly after and rebuilt the forts and dwellings. The Lord Deputy, Chichester, imposed a fine upon O’Doherty’s followers in Inisliowen to pay for all the repairs.

So far, Derry’s fortifications had followed a simple pattern. Their walls consisted of large mounds of earth and sods dug out of the ground, leaving a deep trench. These mounds were transformed into basic defensive ramparts, sometimes reinforced with timber with parapets of earth, stone or wood fashioned on top. One or more gates with a drawbridge were built to control access to the fort. These fortifications would, of course, be weakened by the weather and constant use.

So, the earthwork wall, if not constantly maintained, gave little protection to the population within. Consequently, whenever an attack was imminent, the local people preferred to flee to the countryside rather than defend the fort.

To restore the confidence of the population and significantly increase the strength of Derry’s defences, Chichester urged the Privy Council of the king to have the city ‘walled in stone’. He considered this the only way to prevent another disaster like the O’Doherty sacking. He also advised the king to annex a large area of Inishowen and grant parcels of land to loyal subjects. In return, these new landowners (known as Planters) would have to pay rent to the Crown and also maintain the proposed new Walls, castles and defences.

Chichester’s strategy was simple; if the Planters invested time and money in landholdings given to them by a king they supported, then, if danger threatened, they would not flee as the local populace had done. Instead, they would band together with the military forces behind the stoutly walled fortifications and defend their own territory against a common enemy. In 1608, Chichester petitioned the king to carry out his plans.

The Plantation Begins

In 1609, the Earl of Salisbury, Lord High Treasurer to King James I, put forward a proposal based on Chichester’s plan to establish a Protestant colony in the annexed lands of the O’Neills in Tyrone and O’Dohertys in Inishowen. The king agreed and invited the merchants of the various London Companies to undertake the Plantation of Derry.

Four responsible members of the principal London Guilds were dispatched by the Common Council of the City of London to assess the situation in Derry and report back. ‘Men of estates and plenty’ showed little enthusiasm for the northwest region of Ireland at that time, due mainly to their interest in more profitable (and safer) colonial ventures such as the Virginia Plantation in the Americas. To overcome this reluctance, the Privy Council secretly advised Chichester to reveal only the beneficial aspects of the area to the four Guild representatives. This ‘trick’ proved successful, and the deputation returned with a favourable report.

The Privy Council and the City drew up Articles of Agreement in January 1610 concerning the proposed Plantation. One of these Articles stated: ‘the houses, with the fortifications, should be built and perfected by the 1 November 1611’. In that year, Lord Carew made a comprehensive survey of the Ulster Plantation, and it is believed a plan entitled ‘The Platt of the Derrie 1611’ was commissioned by him. Curiously, it projects the city walled on three sides only (no wall on the riverside) and covers a much larger area than the walled city built a few years later. However, delays, caused mainly by the unwillingness of the local inhabitants to surrender their land to the Planters, meant that virtually no building was carried out by the appointed date. Captain Vaughan eventually negotiated satisfactory compensation terms by August 1611, but in the end, Lord Carew’s planned Walls were never built.

((INSERT IMAGE – Lord Carews Plan Of Derry 1601))

Lord Carew’s plan of Derry, 1601.

On 29 March 1613, a company was formally incorporated by Royal Charter to officially carry out the Plantation. It was called ‘The Society of the Governor and Assistants of London of the New Plantation in Ulster within the Realm of Ireland’. It is better known today as ‘The Honourable The Irish Society’. The Royal Charter (which replaced the original 1604) also renamed the city Londonderry because of the new connection with London. It was the Irish Society which administered the building of Derry’s Walls over the following several years.

In August 1613, Mathias Springham and George Smithes were sent to Derry by the Irish Society to draw up plans to construct the walls. They found widespread evidence of corruption among the city officials, including nonpayment workers and overcharging on building contracts. Such corruption had set back previous Plantation work.

Having sorted out these problems, Springham and Smithes consulted with several experienced army captains stationed in the city. Eventually, they drew up a well-researched plan for walled fortifications in Derry. The defensive siting of the Walls was constrained to some extent by the future commercial needs of the city. Still, the plan was approved by the Common Council of London in October 1613. Unfortunately, no record exists of this plan, so it is not possible to see how much it differed, if at all, from the completed construction. As a result of all this dedicated endeavour by Springham and Smithes, work finally began on the Derry Walls in May 1614.

Walls Constructed

The initial work included digging the ditch, positioning the earth for the ramparts, and excavating stone from nearby quarries to reinforce the ramparts. Progress was slow, and in September 1614, Springham asked Peter Benson, a master builder from London, whether he would tender for the building of the Walls. Benson accepted and, in return, was granted 1,000 acres of land in Donegal along with his fee, which, as it turned out, he needed help collecting.

Sir Edward Doddington of Dungiven was responsible for designing the Walls and supervising their construction. However, he should have paid more attention to his duties somewhat, and Captain John Baker was later appointed as his replacement.

Thomas Raven, who worked for the City of London in Ireland, did all the surveying and measuring work. Of the actual workers, the labourers were nearly all local inhabitants. At the same time, the craftsmen such as slaters, masons, carpenters and plasterers came from London. Over 200 men divided their time between building the Walls and building houses for the settlers.

Primarily, local materials were used in the construction. Stones and slate were cut from quarries in the present-day Fahan and Quarry Street areas. Rubble from previous settlements, including ruined church buildings, was also used. Some poor-grade lime was obtained from cockleshells on a small island near Culmore. Larger quantities of better-quality lime were brought in from London to improve the strength of the Walls.

By October 1615, all the money initially allocated for the Plantation had been spent with little to show. A further £5,000 had to be raised from the London Companies.

The discovery and quelling of an indented Irish uprising in July 1615 helped speed up the work as the Planters feared further attacks on their unguarded city. This was revealed in a report to the Common Council by Springham and Alderman Peter Proby in October 1616. For the first time, a piece of favourable information was made on progress. It began:

“For the fortification at Derrie, we have exactly viewed the same and find it very commendable and when the same is finished, will be very strong and that the walls thereof are well nigh half done, and the houses finished except some 5 or 6…”

Overall, the report stated that good progress had been made, with the Walls half-built in solid fashion, a deep ditch formed, and two drawbridges erected. It also mentioned some 214 houses in Derry at that time. Springham and Proby also found that Captain Baker was overseeing the work well, and no complaints were received from any quarter.

Captain Nicholas Pynnar, Inspector of Fortifications in Ireland, reported in May 1619 that the Walls had been completed by March that year:

“The Citric of London Derry is now compassed about with a very strong wall, excellently made and neatly wrought, being all of good Lyme and stone, the circuit whereof is 284 Perches & 2/3 at 18 feet to the Perche besides the fower Gates which Contains 84 foot and in every place of the wall it is 24-foot high and 6-foot Thicke. The Gates are all battlemented, but to two of them, there is no going up, so that they serve to no great use, neither have they any leaves to their gates, but make two drawbridges serve for two of them, and two portcullises for the other two. The Bulwarks are very large and good, being in number 9; besides two half-bulwarks, and in fower of them there may be placed 4 cannons or other great pieces, the rest are not all out so large, but wanteth very little. The Rampart within the Citric is 12-foot thicke of earth; all things are verie well and substantially donne saveinge there wanteth a house for the soldiers to watche in and a centinell house for the soldiers to stand in in the night to defend them from the weather which is most extreame in these parts…”

The cost of building Derry’s Walls and other defences were later listed as:

Walls and fortification £8,357

For digging the ditch and filling the earth to the wall for ramparts 1,500

For levelling the earth to lay ramparts, 500

For gates, portcullises and drawbridges, 400

Total £10,757

Bulwarks and Gates Named

In 1622, Sir Thomas Phillips and Richard Hadsor, a member of the King’s Council for Ireland, carried out a survey of Derry, which, for the first time, named the bulwarks and Gates of the Walls. They were:

((INSERT IMAGE – Derry Walls Map with Key))

Below put into

Bullwarks

A – King James’s Bulwark

B – Prince Charles’s Bulwark

C – Lord Deputie’s Bulwark

D – London Bulwark

E – Lord Docwra’s Bulwark

F – Lord Chichester’s Bulwark

G – Governor of the Plantation’s Bulwark

H – Mayor of London Derrie’s Bulwark

I – Unnamed

Gates

1 – Water Gate

2 – Ferrey Gate

3 – Bishop’s Gate

The present-day Butcher’s Gate was not named in the survey.

As can be seen, eight bulwarks were named, and another two positions were referred to later as stone platforms. The four Gates now had strong double-planked gates, an improvement on Pynnar’s report of 1619. The parapets of the Walls and bulwarks had battlements along their entire length.

The survey pointed out some significant deficiencies. It suggested improvements such as building guardhouses and sentinel towers for the soldiers, installing cannons on wooden platforms in the bulwarks, and supplying powder and arms to increase reserves. It also recommended creating a flooded defensive ditch in the bog area to completely surround the city with water.

Outside Water Gate (Shipquay Gate), a makeshift quay had been built consisting of earth and bundles of sticks. This weak construction had to be constantly repaired due to the action of the tides.

Sir John Vaughan commanded the 121 families and 110 well-armed men who lived within the walls.

Disagreement Over Improvements

Although Phillips made his recommendations in 1622, very little work was carried out over the following five years. The Irish Society and the Crown disagreed about who should pay to strengthen the fortifications.

In 1624, a Royal Commission pointed out that Derry, in its present state, was vulnerable to attack by the disaffected Irish, who could use it as a base to regain possession of the Inishowen area. The Privy Council asked the Irish Society to undertake the necessary work to pre-empt this potential threat.

The Irish Society agreed to build the guardhouses, the platforms and the sentinel towers but denied responsibility for any other improvements. They argued that according to the Articles of Agreement of 1610, they were not under contract to provide ‘ordnance, carriage (mountings and wheels for the cannons), powder, shot and other furniture thereunto appertaining’. Nor did they feel obliged to dig the flooded ditch, which they saw as ‘work of exceeding great charge and little use’.

((INSERT IMAGE – Thomas Raven’s 1625 plan of the city showing his proposed additional fortifications.))

Thomas Raven’s 1625 plan of the city shows his proposed additional fortifications.

The Crown drew up 23 more Articles in 1624 to guarantee the overdue work was done. The Irish Society instructed its agent in Derry to ensure that the work be ‘speedily performed’. Amid the controversy over the implementation of improved fortifications, Thomas Raven, then employed by Phillips, proffered a map of the city (circa 1625) incorporating a plan for additional defences. The prominent new features comprised an outer wall extending from a point just above Ferryquay Gate, linking up with a ditch stretching the length of the bog area. However, the scheme, which would have proved invaluable for the besieged during the ordeal of 1689, unfortunately, fell foul of the ongoing financial wrangling and was never seriously considered. In 1626, Philips again reported that defects still existed. In 1628, a Royal Commission concluded that the city needed to be adequately defended as it was open to attack from all sectors.

Early Siege Threats

In 1641, the Irish rose in rebellion, and in Ulster, the Planters fled to the protection of Derry’s Walls. The then Mayor, James Vaughan, wrote to London outlining the plight of the overcrowded city and requested more arms, munitions and supplies. It was only in such dangerous times that the years of neglect by the Planters struck home. In response to the crisis, the London Companies dispatched four ships to Derry with provisions and arms to withstand the semi-siege conditions.

The defence of the city and hinterland was organised by several army officers who formed a ‘League of Captains’. They expelled all disloyal Irish inhabitants, cleared open ground outside the Walls and divided the city into defensive zones. Repairs to the Walls were carried out, and at various times, the captains led sorties against the rebels into the nearby counties of Tyrone and Donegal. Because of these measures, the city was never actually attacked during the insurrection of 1641/42.

Derry was again besieged in 1649, this time by forces loyal to King Charles I during the English Civil War. Although many battles occurred in the surrounding countryside during the 20-week siege, no attempt was made to breach the Walls. Sir Charles Coote, the Governor who held Derry for the English Parliament, obtained the help of Owen Roe O’Neill, the Irish Chieftain, to force the Royalist forces to retreat.

Neither this attack nor the one in 1641 was comparable to the Great Siege in 1689. In the earlier attacks, the enemy did not bombard the city or attempt to breach the Walls. Sufficient supplies also reached the garrison, enabling the defenders to resist any attempts to starve them into submission. But in 1689, proper siege conditions prevailed.

The Great Siege of 1689

Apart from the erection of a prison at Ferryquay Gate and the loss of some cannons ‘lent’ to the Parliamentary forces in 1650, the Walls lay virtually neglected for 40 years.

The deterioration that resulted in their weakened condition at the time of the Great Siege was noted by Lord Macaulay, the 19th-century historian. His account was based on an inspection of the Derry fortifications by a French engineer, Jean Thomas. Lord Macaulay wrote:

And in truth, to a military eye, the defences of Londonderry appeared contemptible. The fortification consisted of a single wall overgrown with grass and weeds; there was no ditch even before the gates; the drawbridges had long been neglected; the chains were rusty and could scarcely be used; the parapets and towers were built after a fashion which might well move [engineers] to laughter. These feeble defences were on almost every side commanded by heights. Indeed, those who laid out the city had never meant that it should be able to stand a regular siege and had contented themselves with throwing up works sufficient to protect the inhabitants against a tumultuary attack of the Celtic peasantry.

There was great controversy over the Walls, mainly because they were not built in the typical pattern of that period. They lacked a moat, a counterscarp (the outer side of the ditch), buttresses, outworks and suitable platforms for the few cannons they had. But no one could explain why, if the Walls were so poorly constructed, the army of King James could not capture the city.

Whatever the reasons for the failure of the Great Siege, its cause was well known. The Protestant people of England were fearful of their Catholic king, James II, and replaced him. Prince William of the Netherlands, also a Protestant, was approached to lead a bloodless revolution in November 1688, which forced James to flee to France.

((INSERT IMAGE – Captain Francis Nevill’s map of the besieged Derry in 1689.))

Captain Francis Nevill’s map of the besieged Derry in 1689.

In Ireland, there was armed resistance amongst the Catholic Irish and English troops loyal to James. A contingent of these Jacobite forces (as they were known) arrived at Derry’s Ferryquay Gate on 7 December 1688. Led by the Earl of Antrim, they had been sent by Tyrconnell, the Catholic viceroy, to take over command of the Derry garrison.

As the city’s own troops had been sent to Dublin some weeks beforehand, the Protestant inhabitants feared a massacre. Thirteen city apprentices rushed to close the Gates, marking the symbolic beginning of the Great Siege. It is still celebrated today but on 18 December each year due to the change in calendar systems.

When Colonel Robert Lundy returned with the garrison’s forces, he set about strengthening the Walls against a Jacobite attack. He ordered the building of a triangular defensive wall (a ravelin) outside Bishop’s Gate and also outworks to Windmill Hill in the west and south to the west and south to the river.

On the eve of the siege, all the buildings outside the city Walls (on both sides of the Foyle) were set alight by the defenders to prevent them being used as cover by the besiegers.

On 18 April 1689, King James II arrived at Bishop’s Gate mistakenly believing that if he requested the garrison to surrender, they would accede. His only reply was a barrage of shots which not only repulsed the Jacobites but registered the actual beginning of the siege. Four times, King James demanded the surrender of the city. Four times, he was refused. Frustrated, he returned to Dublin, leaving his generals to besiege the Walls for 105 days.

During the siege, the Walls were continuously bombarded by James’s forces under Marshal DC Rosen. Cannons and mortars caused significant damage, mainly to the section between Bishop’s Gate and Butcher’s Gate, which received the brunt of the attacks.

To reinforce the bulwarks, the defenders made running repairs using barrels filled with earth and gravel to replace the smashed parapets. At various times they had to place timber and sods outside against the Gates to protect them from the enemy’s ‘battering pieces’. They even built a small fort (from casks filled with clay) outside the Walls near Lord Docwra’s Bulwark. It is called Walker’s Fort in maps of the period, probably because the then joint Governor, Rev George Walker, ordered its construction.

By such makeshift means and by venturing outside occasionally to disrupt the enemy, the defenders contrived to defy the besiegers until relief came on 28 July 1689.

Dr William King, Bishop of Derry (1691-1702), said the siege failed because the besiegers were cowards. The supporters of King James argued it was the need for cannons, mortars, scaling ladders and battering rams which made their task almost impossible.

Bullwarks Renamed

Captain Francis Nevill, an engineer in Derry during the siege, recorded the new names given to the bulwarks at that time by the thousands of outsiders who had sought refuge in the city. Ignorant of their existing names, they called the bulwarks whatever they considered most appropriate under the circumstances.

(INSERT IMAGES – Bullwarsk Renamed Map with Key))

Siege Names

(Nevill’s Report 1689) Original Names

(Philip’s Survey 1622)

A – Church Bastion King James’s Bulwark

B – Double Bastion Prince Charles’s Bulwark

C – Ferry Bastion Lord Deputie’s Bulwark

D – Newgate Bastion London Bulwark

E – Royal Bastion Lord Docwra’s Bulwark

F – Coward’s Bastion Lord Chichester’s Bulwark

G – Water Bastion Governor of the Plantation’s Bulwark

H – Gunner’s Bastion Mayor of London Derrie’s Bulwark

I – Hangman’s Bastion Unnamed

The bastions are still known today by their siege names.

Changes Since 1689

After the Great Siege, the Corporation began to repair the badly damaged ramparts, Walls and Gates. The twelve prominent London Companies contributed £100 each towards the Corporation’s costs, and essential reconstruction was carried out over the following few years.

The many alterations and additions which took place could best be chronicled as follows:

((SORT BELOW INTO A TABLE))

Date Alterations

1789-90 Bishop’s Gate was completely levelled, and a Triumphal Arch (with side passages for pedestrians) was erected in honour of King William III. The sculpted head on the outside is dated 1689 and represents the River Foyle. The one on the inside, dated 1690, represents the River Boyne.