NHER 61920 (Monument record) - Medieval structural remains and associated deposits, Weybourne Priory

July 2012. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with the construction of a new structure within the ruins of Weybourne Priory (NHER 6278).
Although the scope of the groundworks was fairly limited they nevertheless exposed a number of walls and other structures associated with two rooms of the medieval refectory building. The wall dividing the two rooms appears to have been a later addition, butting up against the southern refectory wall (which also had markedly different footings). It is possible that a doorway in the southern wall of the western room was also a later insertion, potentially reusing limestone blocks from elsewhere. An ‘L’ shaped section of wall and a concrete floor in this room are believed to be of 20th-century date.
The reduction of the ground level in the eastern room exposed a layer that produced a number of late medieval glazed floor tile fragments and therefore probably represented the remains of a dismantled floor surface. This work also provided an opportunity to examine an infilled gap in the southern wall, which was observed to narrow towards the base. The threshold of the eastern doorway and the base of the demolished medieval north wall were also exposed.
A service trench excavated in the cloister area revealed the foundation trench and footings of the southern refectory wall. Deposits exposed elsewhere in this trench including a redeposited chalky sand that may well have been associated with the construction of the priory. A similar deposit was noted inside the refectory building. The overlying deposits contained debris that was potentially discarded during the demolition of the priory buildings. The remains of a cobbled surface were also noted beneath the uppermost layers in both the cloister area and the refectory.
A trench excavated to the north of the refectory also exposed probable demolition debris, including a fairly substantial dump of building rubble.
The finds recovered during this work included medieval bricks and tiles, medieval and post-medieval pottery sherds and a single iron object. Two unusual ceramic, perforated ball-shaped objects were also recovered. It is suggested that these objects could have been part of a wall-mounted rosary, although it is noted that they do not appear to be of great age and were recovered from a post-medieval context.
See report (S1) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S2).
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.156).
P. Watkins (HES), 1 November 2016. Amended 19 May 2019.