NHER 62695 (Monument record) - Post-medieval features and deposits

May-September 2015. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with the installation of a lift shaft adjacent to the north wall of the Old Gaol House (part of the Guildhall and Town Hall complex - NHER 5480).
After an initial phase of ground reduction a deeper trench was excavated on the site of the lift. These excavations exposed a single deposit of waterlogged, dark grey silt that may have represented the uppermost material within an infilled water coarse. Fragments of brick and tile were present throughout this deposit, which also produced a range of post-medieval finds, including pottery sherds, pieces of clay tobacco pipe, fragments of glass and a wooden bowling ball. Taken as a whole the assemblage appears to represent waste that was dumped during the late 17th century and therefore associated with activity that predating the construction of the Gaol House in 1784. The 17th-century pottery assemblage is of some interest due to the presence of at least one Brown glazed earthenware waster, suggesting pottery production somewhere nearby. This waterlogged deposit was truncated by what appeared to be the southern edge of a substantial pit that contained a large amount of brick and tile rubble. The wall of the Gaol House appeared to have been inserted into the uppermost fill of this feature.
More recent structural remains included an east-to-west aligned brick wall of probable Victorian date. The presence of a sequence of loose, dumped material on one side of this wall suggests it was most likely part of a cellar. A modern wall with a concrete foundation was also exposed.
A single roof tile was the only medieval find recovered during this work.
Information from draft report, final version awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 20 April 2018.