Excavation

Situated just outside the S line of the town wall. Archaeological testing (01E1029) in three N-S trenches identified the town wall at a depth of 0.15-0.5m below the modern surface level, with archaeological deposits inside and outside. The wall was composed of large rectangular undressed limestone blocks and towards the W end it is built on subsoil (Wth 1.4m; H at N 1.4m; H at S 2.9m) and has a wide fosse (Wth of top c. 12m) outside it. The first undisturbed deposits were 1.3-1.5m below the present surface at the S end of the trenches. The medieval deposits were generally not excavated but at one point an undisturbed grey silt at the bottom of the fosse produced some seventeenth century tin-glazed ceramics. The re-deposited top infill of the fosse had been re-cut (Wth 4.5m; D c. 1.5m) lose to the wall in the central and W trenches, and inside the town wall there was a cut into the boulder clay at its W end. Towards the E end the wall was free-standing in a wet area with layers of organic silts abutting it inside and outside. A clearance of 2-3m from the line of the town wall was observed in the new development and the new buildings were constructed on raft foundations above the level of medieval deposits. (Hayden 2001; 2003) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 8 July 2019