NHER 42852 (Monument record) - Medieval quarry pits and remains of post medieval public house

January 2006. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site. Two trenches excavated. Contexts 1-102.
A Late Neolithic arrowhead was recovered in a redeposited context. Three late medeival chalk quarry pits were revealed, along with several pits and postholes of a similar date. A few Late Saxon and early medieval pottery sherds were recovered within these features. The foundations and mortar floor of a post medieval building (The Spread Eagle public house) were discovered directly below the surface on the street frontage. This building was demolished in the early 20th century.
See report (S1) for further details. See also (S2) and (S3).
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2013.328 and NWHCM : 2016.414).
A. Cattermole (NLA) 22 March 2007.

The quarrying activity here may be roughly contemporary with the large scale chalk and flint mines located on the opposite side of the motte, at NHER 22885, NHER 15111, and NHER 17501.
The building housing the Spread Eagle public house has been dated to the late post medieval period, possibly constructed as late as 1700, about the same time as the construction of the rear wing of adjacent No. 23 (NHER 46480) and the nearby Dolphin Inn (NHER 46491). The Spread Eagle Pub is depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (S3), but the building had been demolished by the time the 1928 Ordnance Survey map (S4) was compiled, which depicts a vacant plot here. Hand finished bottle glass recovered from the demolition material has been dated to 1910 and supports an early 20th century date for the demolition.
The almost complete lack of Thetford ware indicates that the Old Market Street area, which lays outside the Late Saxon town defenses, was not heavily occupied prior to the medieval period.
H. Hamilton (NLA), 19 July 2008.