NHER 68121 (Monument record) - Medieval building and other, medieval to post-medieval remains

May 2023. Trial Trench.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
The single deep, stepped trench excavated revealed structural remains of likely medieval date.
Hand-augering at the base of the trench encountered a thin peat deposit at c.2.00m OD. This was overlain by a sequence of silty clay layers likely to represent tidal flat deposits, the uppermost of which contained stick/branch fragments and produced several near intact sheet/goat horn corns. This was overlain by a probable occupation layer that contained a range of finds, including medieval pottery, medieval roof tile fragments, animal bone, oyster, cockle and mussel shell and fragments of iron slag. A sample from this deposit was also found to contain a small quantity of iron hammerscale. Although the bulk of the pottery was of high medieval date the presence of both early medieval and late medieval/early post-medieval sherds demonstrates at least degree of reworking. This material was overlain by a probable flood deposit.
The earliest structure present was a north-north-west to south-south-east wall of roughly-cut stone blocks with a rubble core. A 0.84m wide gap in this wall appeared to be an original narrow entranceway rather than the result of later truncation. Abutting this wall to the west was an 'L'-shaped brick wall built from what were potentially imported handmade bricks of 13th-century date. This was truncated by another wall built from similar handmade bricks that possibly represented a localised remodelling. A presumably contemporary floor surface of brick and stone slab construction lay to the north of these walls. Abutting the eastern side of the stone wall was the remains of a square brick structure comprising handmade bricks of probable late 13th- to 15th-century date. Fragments of similar bricks and several high medieval pottery sherds were recovered from a possible occupation layer within this structure.
These walls were truncated by both a possible robber trench and what was interpreted as a landscaping cut.
The medieval structural remains were overlain by a sequence of ground raising and levelling deposits that were largely devoid of finds. In the south-east corner of the trench these layers were truncated with a pit with outer clay lining and an inner brick lining. These bricks were of probable late medieval (14th- to 15th-century) date and a piece of post-medieval clay tobacco pipe was recovered from one of the backfill deposits within the pit, along with single fragments of medieval pottery and roof tile. Overlying this pit and a number of other features were two thin demolition layers, the uppermost of which contained pottery of predominantly late medieval to early post-medieval date. These layers were in turn overlain by a sequence of further probable made-ground deposits, within which a number of pits were identified. The uppermost of these layers contained post-medieval clay tobacco pipe, oyster shells and modern pottery and lay directly beneath the foundations of a modern building demolished prior to the commencement of this work.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 22 February 2024.