HIGHLIGHTS OF A WALL WALK

THE KALEYARD GATE

The walls have only four main gates. Well, strictly, five: this tiny postern gate was knocked through in 1275 to allow the monks of St Werburgh’s Abbey access to a vegetable garden (kale yard) they had planted just outside the walls. They had to petition King Edward I directly to get it, and he only agreed on the proviso that it must be locked at nightfall. Any Welsh person caught inside the walls after the curfew could be lawfully decapitated – a law which has never officially been repealed. To this day, the gate is still locked at 9pm, with a warning bell being rung ten minutes prior.