Baste Walls

Baste Walls is a late 14th century section of the southern circuit of the Totnes Town wall, which has been extensively repaired around 1639. The remains are located along the center of South Street and consist of the outer face of the curtain wall made of random Devonian limestone rubble, topped with a modern parapet. The wall stretches from opposite No 3 to a point west of No 13. There are breaks in the wall for modern steps opposite Leechwell Lane and for a ramp by the Civic Hall, near the site of the medieval Shambles Gate. No 10 South Street may have originally served as a defensive tower on the wall circuit, similar to a possible tower at the rear of No 2 High Street. The positioning of the Baste Walls indicates that the northern raised section of South Street might have originally functioned as a rampart walk.