NHER 62696 (Monument record) - Medieval and post-medieval structural remains

February 2014-April 2016. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with refurbishment of housing at Hillington Square. A total of 18 small excavations were monitored, the majority of which revealed only a modern make-up layer and evidence for modern disturbance. Earlier structural remains and deposits were however exposed in several of the trenches in this section of the development.
A small section of a medieval wall was exposed in the westernmost trench (on the Bridge Street frontage) with an adjacent white mortar deposit likely to have been the remains of a contemporary floor surface. This surface was covered by a layer of burnt, charcoal-rich material. The nature of the overlying material suggests that the remains of this structure were truncated during the construction of the nearby flats.
Brick footings and a cobbled yard surface observed in three of the trenches on the Stonegate Street frontage were of post-medieval date and potentially associated with the Ladybridge Brewery that previously occupied the site.
Dark silty deposits observed in several of the trenches were possible associated with the adjacent Millfleet, potentially related to or predating its canalisation.
Apart from a brick retained from the medieval wall the only finds recovered were a small number of late post-medieval/modern pottery sherds.
Information from draft report, final version awaited.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.227).
P. Watkins (HES), 20 April 2018. Amended 19 May 2019.