NHER 148 (Monument record) - 132 Magdalen Street (Site of St Margaret in Combusto churchyard)

February 1972. Norwich Institution for the Blind.
19th century building encasing 16th century structure.
Structure planned by A. Carter and [1].

July to September 1973. Norwich Survey excavation.
Site of St Margaret in Combusto churchyard. Human bones, few animal bones not articulated. Charnel pits.
No sign of Late Saxon settlement.
13th-14th century. Houses along street frontage. Signs of industrial activity.
15th-16th century. Complete replanning of area.
16th-17th century. Houses ignoring old tenement boundaries.
20th century. Blind Institution.
See (S1).

30 September 1985 to 26 March 1986. Watching brief.
Excavation of trial pits and trenches, results and reports held by NAU.
No trace of the church of St Margaret in Combusto discovered.
It is now believed church was completely destroyed by the massive cellars of the Blind Institute (NHER 148).
NAU archive consists of plans, sections and report.
See file for further details.
B. Ayers and J. Bown (NAU).

January- May 1987. Excavation.
436 human burials were excavated, the large proportion of which were male. This is attributed to the fact that St Margaret's was known as 'St Margaret ubi sepeliunter suspensi',( 'where those who have been hanged were buried,') and assumes that fewer women than men were hanged. A number of skeletons were found in groups buried face down, which is highly unusual in a Christian cemetery. Metal finds and mineralised fragments of cloth from the skeletons suggest a date range from the 11th/12th century to the mid-late 15th century.
See (S2) and press cuttings (S3 )- (S6) in file for further details
H. White, (NLA), 18 August 2009.

?Late 1987. Field Observation.
Human skeletal remains disturbed during groundworks, including a number of skulls. See photos in file.
Although the recorded provenance of these remains is somewhat ambiguous they were almost certainly found at this site. The NAU apparently visited the site, although no excavation took place.
P. Watkins (HES), 6 September 2016.

1988. Found during building works after excavation.
Copper alloy disc brooch with backward facing animal. Middle Saxon/Late Saxon.
Information taken from NCM accessions book 1992; no record received from NCM.
E. Rose (NLA), 18 September 1992.
J. Bown (NAU) suggests this is a duplication of entry under NHER 780.