NHER 51001 (Monument record) - Medieval chalk extraction pit and post medieval domestic refuse

September 2007. Trial Trench.
Evaluation of proposed development site. Contexts 1-20 used.
A single trench was found to contain a large quarry pit which was probably dug in the later medieval period for the extraction of chalk. It seems most likely that chalk rather than flint was being quarried in this location as several large flint nodules remained within the natural chalk. This is consistent with the fact that quarries and limekilns are known in this part of the city from the 15th century onwards. This pit was backfilled in the 16th and 17th centuries, a date indicated by the pottery recovered from its fills. The pottery forms were mainly those found in a domestic household and the associated animal bone assemblage is also typical of domestic refuse. There was also some evidence of industrial activity in the immediate vicinity of the site as some samples produced evidence of metalworking in the form of hammerscale.
Once the quarry had been backfilled, the area became open land. Cartographic evidence indicates that the proposed development area was divided into two properties by 1789, one area being the backyard for buildings fronting King Street and Music House Lane and the other becoming an orchard. Evidence of the property boundary was found during the excavation. Buildings are first indicated within the development area on Millard and Manning's map of 1830, and evidence for this was recorded during the excavation. A further change in building location was noted on maps dating from 1885, but by 1914 most of these buildings had been demolished and replaced by a school.
See (S1) for details.
A. Cattermole (NLA), 27 November 2007.

May 2008. Trial Trenching.
Second phase of evaluation of proposed development site (Trenches 2-4).
The trench to the west of the site contained a pit that extended beyond the western limit of the excavation. The pit had vertical sides and was augered to a depth of 3m. The base of the pit was not reached, but the shape suggests it may have been a well. The fill included sherds of pottery dated from 1150- 1450. In the eastern half of the trench an early nineteenth century cellar was discovered, built of red brick and flint.
The trench to the north of the site contained a pit which extended beyond the north, east and south limits of the trench and to a depth beyond safe excavation level. The pit was augered to a depth that exceeded 4.10m. The fill contained local medieval pottery and one sherd of middle saxon pottery. It is notable that no post medieval pottery was discovered, which suggests that the pit was fully backfilled by the sixteenth century.
The final trench uncovered a large pit which extended beyond the north, east and west limit of the trench. It is a minimum of 3.9m deep. The fill contained a copper alloy pin and ten copper alloy rods of identical lengths, which suggests waste from pin manufacturing. Local pottery and one sherds of Raeren stoneware were also discovered. In the south east corner of the trench a short length of north- south orientated wall of unmortared large flint was discovered, and a single post hole.
See (S2) for further details.
H White (NLA) 7 November 2008.