NHER 50581 (Monument record) - Late Saxon town ditch, medieval and post medieval features

1997. Desk-based Assessment.
Impact assessment for proposed development.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 13 August 2015.

1998. Desk-based Assessment.
A further desktop study confirms a likely early gateway in the Late Saxon defences, where Botolph Street enters, for traffic from the north-west. The area on the north-east side of Botolph was open for some centuries; the town ditch seems to have survived as a recognisable landmark, although mostly infilled and converted into a lane, to be recorded in the medieval Enrolled Deeds. A small area on Magdalen Street may have lain at the south end of a former market area, overlooked by St Botolph's church, and now completely lost through infilling and the modern loss of Botolph Street.
See report (S2) for further details. The results of this assessment are also summarised in (S3).
Previously recorded under NHER 170.
D. Holburn (HES), 5 December 2011. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 13 August 2015.

March 2007. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of proposed redevelopment area.
The site is located within the Late Saxon town and the medieval city walls, and therefore the potential for archaeological finds and features is significant. The northern gate of the Late Saxon town may have been located within the development area. During the medieval period the nature of the area was predominantly industrial, including iron-working.
See report (S4) for further details
H. White (NLA), 2 June 2009.

September-November 2007. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of area to be affected by proposed redevelopment of Anglia Square (Area 1; Trenches 6 and 7).
Trench 6:
Evidence of the Late Saxon ditch which enclosed Norwich north of the River Wensum in the Late Saxon period was found in the base of this trench, at a depth of approximately 3.7m below the present ground surface. Deposits rich in pottery and bone suggest that the ditch may have been used, at least for a while, for the dumping of domestic waste. The pottery in this fill was dated to the 11th to 12th centuries. The uppermost of the ditch fills was cut by a small, shallow ditch following the line of the Late Saxon defensive ditch. This feature was possibly a boundary or roadside ditch dating from the medieval period. Most of these deposits were heavily truncated by a post-medieval cellar.
Trench 7:
The eastern bank of the Late Saxon defensive ditch was also identified in this trench, but in this area no dateable finds were recovered. Two layers of deliberate infill were identified, and one contained a lens of mortar, suggesting that building work was taking place nearby. Mortar-rich deposits above these features were dated to the later medieval period, and appear to indicate a deliberately laid surface. One of these deposits perhaps represents the former road surface of Botolph Street. A cellared building was constructed in this area in the late 18th or early 19th century. The earliest element of this building formed the northern side of the Duke of Sussex public house. Beside this wall was a gravelled surface which probably formed the southern edge of Botolph Street. This area was apparently cleared in the 1960s.
See report (S5) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S6).
See NHERs 50582-50584 and 50586 for information on Trenches 1-5, 8-9 and 12-13.
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2011.235).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 17 September 2008. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 16 May 2019.