St George's Tower
St George's tower at Oxford Castle

The Anglo-Saxon Burh and its defences (AD900-1066)

Oxford was founded a burh, which was an fortified town. Thus from about AD900 it had town defences. These defences surrounded much of the present day centre of Oxford. There were 4 gates, to the east, west, north and south. St George's tower may have been near the west gate. St Michael's tower was near the north gate.

Surrounding the town was a wooden rampart with a ditch in front. Later stone walls were built. Archaeologist do not know exactly where the early wood town walls went but have found some remains during excavations.

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