NHER 51547 (Monument record) - Early medieval land reclamation and 15th century occupation and industrial activity

May 2008. Evaluation.
Excavation in advance of construction of new escalator trench and lift. From Context 1.
The earliest activity on the site dates from the 11th to 13th centuries and comprises the making-up of ground, a possible drainage channel and a large refuse pit. This pit was a vertical-sided flat-bottomed feature, with four distinct horizontal bands of material recorded within. This arrangement suggests the feature was a domestic refuse pit with layers of organic refuse periodically sealed with more inert material to minimise odours and vermin.
Evidence from the 15th century includes the presence of two hearths or ovens which suggests occupation of a domestic, or possibly industrial, nature. The absence of any structural remains associated with these hearths suggests they may have been outdoors, presumably to minimise any fire risk.
The high proportion of so-called 'dripping dishes' (which were often used to cook fish against a fire) in the assemblage from this site is evidence that the site was close to a kitchen, perhaps even a commercial enterprise preparing and selling fish for consumption.
The faunal assemblage from the site is dominated by birds (geese and chicken) but also includes cattle and sheep/goat and haddock bones.
Two goat horncores recovered from 15th century deposits probably represent waste from hornworking
The finds and features from this excavation complement those recorded during the 1963-4 excavation ahead of the construction of the Marks and Spencer store (NHER 1163). The excavator concluded that this site was almost certainly in the back yards of tenements fronting onto Jew's Lane (S1), and the findings of this more recent excavation support this assertion.
See report (S2) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S3).
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.495).
H. White (NLA) 26 November 2008. Amended by A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 9 May 2019 and P. Watkins (HES), 27 May 2019.