29 



There is but little in common between the fortifications 

 of Warwick and Coventry, as far as the design of the 

 various gates is concerned, though the walls were built in 

 the same age. I may remark that in 1358-9 Warwick 

 was declared free of all stallage and toll by the earl, and 

 at this period we first hear of Lady Godiva's fabulous 

 ride to free the citizens of Coventry from a similar tax 

 more than three hundred years before. We know that 

 the walls of Coventry remained until the reign of Charles 

 II., but at Warwick they did not exist in 1610, and 

 probably were destroyed, or fell into decay during the 

 Wars of the Roses. At all events the bailiff and burgesses 

 appointed under the charter of Philip and Mary did not 

 consider it their duty to keep them in repair, and they 

 •were built over and hidden. Their existence was 

 forgotten until these researches were made. 



I cannot find any trace of the town having a separate 

 wall from the Castle on the south, but there was a 

 triangular enclosure callec^^The Vineyard standing in 

 Dugdale's time, enclosed with strong stone walls, which 

 must have occupied a position close to the present entrance 

 gates between the present Vineyard lane and the road 

 cut in the rock by Francis Lord Warwick. The castle 

 ditch on the town side was remarkably steep and wide. 

 These remarks do not dispose of the question but are 

 simply the result of careful investigation of many docu- 

 ments and examination of the remains at present existing. 



