NHER 1210 (Monument record) - Medieval river revetment and quay, Sedgeford Lane

May-August 1965. Excavation.
An area measuring 7.6m (25 feet) by 12.2m (40 feet) was excavated on the north side of Sedgeford Lane between it and the Purfleet.
The excavation suggested that Sedgeford Lane was of some economic importance during the medieval period, but that this part of the lane was not inhabited until the 17th or 18th centuries. There is evidence for occupation on the south side of Sedgeford Lane from the early 14th century but none for occupation on the north side until the end of the 15th century.
The earliest activity on this site is represented by a thick layer of rubbish and occupation debris which lay directly on the undisturbed grey silt of the river bank. The depth of this layer (2m) suggests deliberate deposition rather than gradual accumulation over a lengthy period. Such a large amount of material suggests either that the area was a 'muckhill' or that the debris was deposited here to raise the level of the river bank. Documentary sources support the interpretation of this deposit as an area used for rubbish and manure, but a wooden timber structure constructed while this layer of rubbish was being deposited suggests more deliberate deposition. The wooden structure consisting of 18 groups of timbers each comprising a horizontal oak beam lying NE-SW and pierced by one or two mortises through which short cross-pieces of sweet chestnut slotted was apparently intended to reinforce the unconsolidated material deposited in this area. The excavator therefore considered it most likely that the timber structure and surrounding deposit were deliberately placed to raise the level of the south bank of the Purfleet. This dates from the late 14th or early 15th centuries.
After the timbers were laid, a brick structure was erected above them during the 15th century which functioned as a quay. Walls of handmade bricks formed a revetment against the south bank of the Purfleet and a later pair of brick arches spanned the east side of the site. It is possible that the earliest of these brick walls were constructed as part of a brick wharf or river wall to contain the Purfleet.
Finds from this site included large quantities of Grimston ware pottery such as glazed jugs and decorated glazed bowls of late 14th and 15th century date along with many cooking pots. Leather was found in great quantities, much of which comprised off cuts and patches from cobbling but there were also a few complete soles and partly preserved uppers. Scraps of fine leather with frilled edges appear to have come from some sort of clothing, and three scabbards were also found. There were also numerous worked bone objects including buttons, an unfinished gaming piece and an unfinished ivory handle. The concentration of these bone items suggests that boneworking was carried out on Sedgeford Lane or at the site from which the rubbish was brought. Goat horn cores are found more frequently on this site than elsewhere in King's Lynn and are indicative of hornworking.
It is likely that the structures excavated on this site belonged to the property identified at the corner of Cross Lane (NHER 1211), forming a single economic unit of merchant's house and quay. This arrangement of merchants' houses on one side of a lane and warehouses on the other (river) side is known from King Street and Purfleet Street in the 14th century, and the excavator believed it very likely that the same arrangement existed here.
A layer of burnt material containing 17th century pottery sherds appears to indicate the end of the use of this site as a landing stage. After this the cottages known as 29 and 30 Sedgeford Lane were built in 1667 and the Purfleet diverted slightly further north and enclosed in a brick culvert.
See (S1) for further information.
E. Rose (NAU), amended by A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 5 March 2019.