NHER 63515 (Monument record) - Site of medieval crypt

Previously recorded under NHER 14430.

1865. Found during infilling of Purfleet.
This site is the approximate location of a vaulted undercroft at the northwest corner of High Bridge (NHER 5476) discovered and destroyed around 1865.
See documentary background and discussion by source [1] in file.
E. Rose (NLA), 4 April 2000., amended A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 22 July 2019.

(S1) includes an etching by Henry Baines dating from 1865 of this crypt. (S1) suggests that 'the bridge connecting the old and new towns was provided with a chapel which was at the north-west angle, where the Coffee Tavern now stands. An etching of the crypt or bassa ecclesia, discovered when the Purfleet was filled up was executed by the late Henry Baines (1865-6).
See (S1) for etching. See also (S2).
A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 22 July 2019.

(S3) states that in conjunction with the demolition of the High Bridge in April 1866, a property on the south side of Purfleet Street, at the eastern end, was demolished. Within this was a medieval undercroft described as measuring 24 ft 6 in (7.45m) by 20 ft 6 in (6.25m) and similar to that at Clifton House (NHER 5535).
John James Coulton, the clerk to the Commissioners, made reference to this event as follows: 'The widening of the south corner of Purfleet Street and High Street brought to light a most curious building, the existence of which was previously not generally known. It was a vault with a beautiful groined roof, supported by a central pillar. Unfortunately the crown of the roof projected two or three feet above the level of the street so that it was necessary to destroy the building or to leave the entrance to Purfleet Street pretty much as it was… The stones of the groined roof were used as rubbish to fill up the vault'.
A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 23 July 2019.

Given that the Coffee Tavern is known to have stood on the south-west corner of this junction, rather than on the north-west corner, the grid reference for the discovery of the crypt has been amended from TF 61745 20056 to TF 61753 20035. This confusion had arisen as the High Bridge (NHER 5476) was also incorrectly mapped slightly too far to the north. Once this is taken into consideration, this still allows the chapel to be located at the 'north-west angle' of the bridge as described in (S1).
A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 23 July 2019.