NHER 56848 (Monument record) - Late medieval yard and 17th century walls and floors

November - December 2011. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
This work revealed a 14th to 15th century brick and beach pebble yard or thoroughfare surface, where the alignment is at odds with the present building and all other structural elements. This could suggest that a remodelling of the quayside took place in the late medieval period. The remains of a late 16th century brick wall is possibly associated with the adjoining merchant's house known as Crugmeer (NHER 18632), which is shown to the south on a 16th century map of Wells. A photograph dated to 1900 shows a possible 17th century two storey structure on this plot with a hipped tile roof, of which remains the three upper storey windows that have been bricked up. A plan drawn from the 1813 enclosure map marks this as a 'maltings and associated buildings', which could indicate that the remains of walls and floors could relate to the earlier phase of the building, which was later remodelled in the early 20th century. The demolition waste from the remodelling included mid to late 17th century roof tile and later used as material to raise the ground floor level.
See report (S1) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2011.723).
S. Howard (HES), 16 March 2012. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 28 June 2021.

May-June 2012. Excavation.
Details awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 19 May 2019.