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The perambulation of boundaries was a common practice in most communities from early times up to the eighteenth century. In medieval boroughs, the perambulation was a costumed procession. The boundaries were walked, or ridden on horseback by the better-off people with the poor following. The
map shows our route, which closely follows the western
boundaries of the New Borough and Old Borough. Together, the two borough
boundaries formed the outer defences of the medieval town. Along the way,
we stop to consider what has been discovered about significant sites
in the town. Hamps
Street Band entertain us with music along the route. |
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The Route 1. Launch of the Community Heritage Initiative by the Mayor of Scarborough, Councillor Sheila Kettlewell, outside the Town Hall in St Nicholas Street at 11.30 am. The Proclamation of the Beating of the Bounds, and departure of the Costumed Procession to perambulate the boundaries of the medieval Old and New Boroughs. [back to the map] 
2. A moment to recall the great days of the Borough moat. Attacks were made across the Borough defences in the reigns of King John and Henry III and during the Civil War. When Scarborough thought Bonny Prince Charlie and the Scots were coming in 1745, guns were mounted along the moats. [Back to the map]
3. We stop at the information stall on the site of the New Borough gate to hear the reading of the Charter. King Henry II granted the Charter to his burgesses of Scarborough in 1155. House rents were to be fourpence and sixpence, depending on whether or not the gable faced the road, and the rent was called gablage. [Back to the map]
4. A pause where Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society excavated parts of the New Borough boundary defences in 1991. [back to the map]
5. A pause at St Thomas Street to look at what may well be a surviving fragment of the town wall. This is the northern boundary of the New Borough. [Back to the map]
6. A great Scarborough moment relived. Two bowling greens were near the Borough moat. At one of these, in the seventeenth century, the town's Mayor was tossed in a blanket by army officers. In our kinder time, an effigy will be bounced. [Back to the map]
7. At Friarage School, close by the line of the great wall of the Old Borough, a Grand Finale to the perambulation. [Back to the map]
8. We point out Leading Post Street where, in 1988-1989, Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society excavated and revealed part of the Old Borough defences.
Information
Stall - all day Photographs
by Martin Haggerty and Moyra and Colin Fallows. |
