NHER 1199 (Monument record) - Medieval to post-medieval finds and features at 19 Purfleet Street

Before June 1971. Excavation.
An exploratory north-south trench across the site on the north bank of the fleet was abandoned because of waterlogging at a depth of 12 feet (3.65m) OD, before undisturbed soil had been reached throughout. The west section shows traces of three river banks, the earliest being a slope of clean sand on the north. Imported stonewares date the lowest levels to the 15th and 16th centuries. The land on the south must have been consolidated quite quickly to allow dwellings to be erected in the 18th century and later. These are represented by brick walls and floors.
See (S1) for further information and section drawing.
E. Rose (NAU). Amended by A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 11 January 2019.

June 2020. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with construction of new three-storey building.
Reduction of the ground level by between 0.3m and 0.5m revealed a number of brick-built walls and footings, surrounded by mixed soils containing some brick fragments and other rubble.
One of the earliest walls was aligned north-to-south and was probably associated with a boundary that formerly divided the plot into two properties (visible on early Ordnance Survey maps). It was probably contemporary with a perpendicular wall at the southern edge of the site that forms a revetment of the Purfleet. A modern boundary wall is perched atop this older wall.
To the east of the boundary wall a number of walls associated with other buildings were recorded. These included a perpendicular, east-to-west aligned wall made of hard red brick with some part bricks, handmade yellow bricks and at least one piece of stone within its fabric. A small square structure abutted the northern side of this wall.
The only structures of note to the west of the boundary wall were the probable remains of a cellar, which survived in the north-west part of the site.
Although the brick walls are not closely datable, both their nature and the results of the earlier archaeological work suggest they were all probably associated with late post-medieval structures.
Although there was no obvious trace of the previous archaeological intervention the position of the surviving brick walls suggests the trench had most likely been dug in the central part of the plot.
No finds were recovered.
See report (S1) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2020.87).
P. Watkins (HES), 19 February 2024.