NHER 41951 (Monument record) - Probable remains of Dominican friary, medieval and post-medieval features

September 2005. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site. Two trenches excavated. Contexts 1-66.
Remains thought to be associated with the nearby Dominican friary (Blackfriars) (NHER 1176) included masonry walls and several floor make-up deposits, as well as demolition debris. It is uncertain as to which part of the friary is represented by the walls found here, since the ground plan of the friary is not known, but it may be the remains of the gatehouse.
Two late medieval probable drainage ditches were also recorded, along with post medieval pits and make-up layers.
Faunal remains from the site included evidence for butchery as well as hornworking waste.
See report (S1) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S2).
See also (S3) and (S4).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 14 March 2007. Amended A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 9 May 2019.

March 2008. Geophysical Survey.
Ground penetrating radar survey by Arrow Geophysics for NAU Archaeology.
Limited success in delineating features of potential archaeological significance. An extension to a wall located by previous archaeological excavation and possible associated linear features were interpreted. Two fuel tanks were also interpreted in the north-west of the survey area.
See report (S5) for further details.
E. Bales (NLA), 22 May 2008.

May 2008. Excavation.
Small targeted excavations to test results of ground penetrating radar survey. Contexts 100-139.
Three trenches were excavated in order to test the results of the ground penetrating radar survey (see above).
Trenches 1 and 3 were excavated in order to investigate the line of the wall observed during the initial evaluation and the geophysical survey. A north-south wall constructed of handmade red brick, roughly hewn stone, and occasional cobbles was revealed in the centre of the southernmost trench (Trench 1). A sample of brick from the wall was dated to the 13th to 15th century, but these medieval bricks may have been re-used. A thick mortar covering was present, and cobbles bonded in at the edge of the wall indicate that it may have been faced. The western face of the wall was abutted by a brick surface and samples from this were identified as 18th to 19th century white-fired floor bricks. Removal of the brick samples revealed a layer of yellow builder's sand, but no further excavation was undertaken below the floor.
A further segment of this north-south brick wall was identified in Trench 3, verifying that the remains seen in the evaluation were part of the same wall seen in these trenches. These remains had been heavily truncated by a large iron pipe (which had also been observed in the evaluation trench). The eastern face of this wall was abutted by a layer of compact crushed mortar which may have supported a tiled or brick surface. It appears to have been a major external wall and it has been suggested that it was probably part of the last upstanding fabric of the friary (NHER 1176) that was demolished in the mid-19th century. Dating of the construction remains uncertain, but it may have been a later medieval or early post medieval addition to the original friary buildings. In both trenches these remains were sealed by various dumps of building material. In Trench 3 a large segment of stone, brick and mortar masonry was recovered from a make-up layer but this does not appear to have been in situ.
Trench 2 was excavated in order to verify the extent of a large petrol tank which was inserted in 1954. The tank was observed in the northern potion of the trench, proving that the parallel linear anomalies observed during the geophysical survey were part of the petrol tank. A large quantity of bonded masonry believed to have formed two walls of a single structure was recorded at the base of the southern portion of the trench. Between the two walls was a structure possibly used for an industrial purpose. The building was composed of 13th to 15th century hand-made red bricks bonded with a hard mortar or cement and had a soot covering. It was on a similar alignment to the exterior wall in Trenches 1 and 2 but appears to have been demolished prior to the other wall as it was covered with a thick layer of post medieval mortar which may have supported a tile or brick floor. This in turn was overlain by a series of other mortar layers and surfaces into which two post holes and a pit had been cut. This medieval or post medieval building appears to have been a complex structure and may have been a gatehouse which was noted by William Taylor in 1843 to have been converted into a residence.
Finds from the excavation include medieval and post medieval pottery and ceramic building material (including one fragment of a 14th-15th century Flemish floor tile) and a small quantity of butchered cattle and sheep or goat bone.
See report (S6) for further details. See also (S7) and (S8).
A combined archive comprising material from both phases of archaeological work at this site has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.109).
H. Hamilton (NLA), 09 September 2008. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 18 May 2019.