NHER 64064 (Monument record) - Remains of medieval town ditch and possible Civil War defences, Morrison's superstore

Previously recorded under NHER 5486.

2001. Trial trenching.
Four trenches were excavated to explore the projected line of the medieval and Civil War defences.
Trenches 1 and 3 to the east of the site were located to attempt to find the remains of Civil War defences. The excavators regard that this was 'tentatively successful', although the only evidence from these two trenches was deep deposits of mid-18th century material. These deposits exist at a far greater depth than the natural subsoil. The cartographic evidence suggests that the civil war defences had been levelled by 1725 and a prospect of the town drawn in 1741 (S2) gives only a hint of a raised platform in this area. However, the pottery dating does not necessarily support this interpretation of the evidence, given that the earliest fragments encountered within this feature post-date 1720. The pottery remains include a high proportion of finewares suggesting a relatively affluent local population in the mid-18th century.
Trenches 2 and 4 to the west of the site were located to test for evidence of the medieval town wall or defences as constructed in the late 13th century. Both trenches located the edge of a massive ditch at least 3.4m deep and probably in excess of 20m wide. The environmental data from these trenches suggests that the feature contained flowing water. This is consistent with an interpretation of this feature as a large moat created in the 13th century when the River Gaywood was diverted and flowed outside the town walls. A timber revetment was inserted on the western bank, presumably to stabilise the bank, but it was not possible to date this feature. Silts from this feature suggest that during the 16th to 18th century the moat almost completed silted up. During the 19th century a new channel was cut into these silts and was ultimately superseded by the modern drain on this site. The westernmost feature in Trench 4 is thought to be the robbed out footings of the medieval town wall. This section of the town wall is visible as a substantial structure on an engraving of 1741 (S2) suggesting that it was demolished after this date.
See (S1) for further details.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with the King's Lynn Museum (KILLM : 2003.43).
A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 12 March 2020.