NHER 1202 (Monument record) - Demolished 13th to 14th and 17th to 18th century buildings, 21-27 South Clough Lane

Excavation. 1970.
The clearance of 19th century housing provided an opportunity to briefly investigate an area of the town for which almost no documentary evidence survives A single trench 10.5m (35 feet) by 1.8m (6 feet) was excavated. The street itself is first mentioned as 'Fullerowe' in 1492-3 but not a single property can be identified as lying on its south side, north of the lane and south of the Purfleet, which seemed surprising given the opportunity the culvert (running midway between South Clough Lane and Blackfriars Street) provided for water-orientated crafts.
The excavation showed that there had been medieval occupation south of South Clough Lane, but its intensity was in no way comparable with that in the central parts of the town, and this area appears to have been abandoned by the 14th century. When rebuilding occurred here around 1700 the very different building lines perhaps reflect a shift in tenement boundaries.
The earliest phase of occupation appears to date from the 13th to 14th centuries, and the building from this phase appears to have been relatively short-lived. This brick building was thoroughly destroyed, and a pit containing large quantities of broken bricks, a few Carstone blocks, flints and yellowish sandy mortar served to accommodate the rubble from this demolition.
Later building on the site comprises a four-roomed structure of which only the lower courses of its brick walls survived. A fireplace was set diagonally across the rear inner corner of both excavated rooms. It is uncertain whether these four rooms under a single roof represent one tenement or two, though the excavator suggests the latter is more likely. The diagonal setting of the fireplace suggests a late 17th or early 18th century date, which is supported by the pottery from the destruction layer and includes 18th century salt-glazed Staffordshire stoneware, combed slipware and late Westerwald stoneware.
See (S1) for further information, site plans and section drawing.
A. Carter (KLAS) amended by A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 14 January 2019

For parallel to fireplace see NHER 3996 and for an early instance see Evelyn's notes on Cornbury Park (Christ Church Oxford Evelyn MSS 44 p.206) quoted in (S2).
E. Rose (NAU) and J. Davies (NAU).