NHER 67512 (Monument record) - Medieval and later remains

January 2014. Desk-based Assessment.
Archaeological Heritage Statement produced for large proposed development site comprising all land between Rose Lane and Mountergate to east of Boulton Street and St John's Street.
The archaeological potential of this area was deemed to be reasonably high. It is noted that the setting of the proposed development area (on River Terrace sand and gravel deposits close to the River Wensum) is similar to that of other sites elsewhere in the city that have produced evidence for prehistoric activity. Its location also makes it likely that remains of Late Saxon to medieval date are present. Rose Lane to the north and Mountergate to the south are of medieval or earlier date and both frontages are shown as being developed on Cleer's 1696 map of Norwich (the earliest available cartographic source). Hochstetter's map of 1789 shows the land in between these streets to be filled with a series of small allotments or gardens. Much of the area was infilled during the later 19th century and by the early 20th century it had largely acquired its present character.
It is reported that a geotechnical investigation of the site by Norfolk Partnership Laboratory in 2013 demonstrated the presence of extensive, deep made ground deposits across the site, increasing the likelihood that archaeological remains survive.
See report (S1) for further details.
The former Fish Market buildings that occupy the southern half of this particular part of the proposed development area date to the late 19th century. According to (S2) the fish market moved here from St Peter's Street in 1914.
P. Watkins (HES), 16 July 2020.

September-November 2014 and April 2015. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of site ahead of proposed redevelopment.
Full deposit sequences were exposed in seven of the eight 4m x 4m trenches excavated, at the base of which were river gravels (at between 0.33m OD and 0.98m OD), overlain by waterlogged soil-like deposits that produced medieval pottery. A small assemblage of worked flints of probable prehistoric date represented the earliest evidence for a human presence on what was probably low lying and fairly wet land until well into the medieval period. Other evidence for earlier activity in the vicinity was limited to a small assemblage of Late Saxon pottery and an 11th-century stirrup-strap mount, all of which were recovered from later contexts.
The medieval period had clearly seen attempts to consolidate and utilise parts of the site, with probable make-up deposits, patchy surfaces of crushed chalk and other material recorded in a number of trenches, along with pits of this date. These remains are likely to have been predominantly associated with industrial activity taking place primarily during the 13th and 14th centuries. Large numbers of goat horn cores were present (at one point forming a thick layer), suggesting that horn working was almost certainly one of the activities taking place, with the presence of horn cores from cow calves being potentially indicative of high quality leather production. Tanners are known to have owned property on Rose Lane during the 14th century and this was possibly one of the sites where they were working. One of the pits had a series of water-retentive linings and appeared to have contained lime, which was used to remove the hairs from skins during the tanning process (although it is noted that it was also used to prepare skins during the production of vellum and parchment). Overall we see evidence for a range of activities that would have taken advantage of both the site's ready access to water and its relatively peripheral location.
There was a notable absence of medieval features in the central and south-western parts of the site suggesting these areas, set back from the main roads, had probably remained marginal, wet land throughout the period. The most complex sequence of medieval remains was exposed in a trench excavated in the north-west corner of the site, indicating a greater degree of activity on this higher, dryer land relatively close to the Rose Lane frontage. It was here that the potentially earliest pits were encountered, overlain by possible occupation deposits and a series of compacted gravel and cobble road surfaces. A north-to-south aligned flint and mortar wall was likely to represent the remains of a building of later, possible 15th- to 16th century date and there were also other potentially structural features that may have represented a precursor to this structure. What may have been a structural chalk pad was also recorded in a trench to the east, along with a north-to-south aligned ditch of possible late 16th-century date that probably marked some form of plot or property boundary. The remains of a cobble wall in the south-east corner of the site was the only evidence for medieval or early post-medieval structures along the Mountergate frontage, although it should be noted that the second of two trenches placed close to Mountergate could only be partially excavated due to the presence of a modern fuel tank.
It appears that apart from some possible further attempts at consolidation much of the site saw little sustained activity after the end of the 15th century, with all of the medieval deposits sealed beneath relatively sterile accumulations of soil. This is consistent with the available cartographic evidence, which shows much of this block of land to have been open and largely undeveloped until the latter half of the 19th century. In several of the trenches these post-medieval soils were overlain by a series of make-up deposits of crushed chalk, mortar and stone that were probably lain down as parts of the site began to be redeveloped from the late 18th century onward. The presence of the crushed stone is potentially of interest as it is possible that this material was debris from the demolition of stone structures - perhaps at one of the major monastic complexes that lay nearby. Overlying, truncated structural remains encountered in several of the trenches appears to have been primarily associated with brick buildings of 19th-century date.
The medieval finds recovered during this work including over 100 pottery sherds (predominantly of high medieval date), a small number of brick and roof tile fragments, a possible floor tile fragment, pieces of window glass and a near comple leather turnshoe of probable 13th- or 14th-century date. Two medieval pits also produced a number of thin strips of fir or cedar wood with worked ends forming points. The function of these objects is currently uncertain, although it is possible that they were styli used for writing on wax tablets.
See report (S3) for further details.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.269).
P. Watkins (HES), 4 August 2020.

June-July 2015. Excavation and Watching Brief.
Archaeological work undertaken prior to and during the construction of a new multi-storey car park.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.311).
Details to follow.

A pottery sherd from this site was included in a petrographic study of late medieval and transitional (LMT) pottery from known and suspected kiln sites in Norfolk and Suffolk (Sample 6). Material was also examined from known or assumed production sites at Woodbastwick (NHER 1076), Great and Little Plumstead (NHER 64833), Potter Heigham (NHER 8388) and Hopton (Suffolk), along with comparative sherds from 'consumer' sites at Norwich (Muspole Street, NHER 50560) and South Walsham (Suffolk). The sherds from the known and suspected production sites all have a closely related petrographic fabric. Those from the 'consumer sites' also had a comparable composition to the general petrological fabric represent by the kiln sites. This may simply reflects the homogeneous bedrock and superficial geology of this wide area, although it may indicate some degree of regional organisation to LMT production.
See report (S4) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 14 October 2024.