NHER 65248 (Monument record) - Medieval structural remains and associated features

July 2014. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of potential impact of proposed redevelopment of site (formerly Waverly Warehouse Osler’s Yard).
It is noted that the site lies close to Norfolk Street (formerly Damgate Street), which was a major route way through the medieval town, with documentary evidence indicating that its entire length was built up with inns, warehouses, shops and houses by the mid-13th century. This suggests that the regular burgage plots shown on the earliest post-medieval maps followed a pattern that had been established during the medieval period. These maps suggest the site in question was probably open ground to the rear of the Norfolk street properties from at least the 18th century onward. The later 19th century saw significant development of the land to the south of Norfolk Street, with Kirby Street established and numerous buildings constructed, including a number within the bounds of the site itself.
The study concludes that there is a high likelihood that archaeologically-significant remains of medieval and later date are preserved within the bounds of the site, although these would most likely be associated with activities taking place within the rear plots of properties on Norfolk Street/Damgate.
During a site visit it was observed that the 19th- and 20th-centuty buildings occupying the site were all in poor condition and mostly derelict. The earliest structures appeared to be the two small buildings flanking the Blackfriars Road gate, which have red brick walls built on potentially earlier sandstone foundations. It was also noted that a stable retained some original fittings, including feeding troughs and split doors.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 25 August 2021.

November 2019. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
Two trenches were excavated, one at the western end of the site and one at the eastern end.
The earliest deposits encountered were a sequence of silt layers, the majority of which were only recorded through hand auguring and exploratory sondages. In both trenches the uppermost of these silt deposits had been truncated by medieval structural remains.
In the eastern trench a stone wall was exposed that turned through 90 degree and represented the south-east corner of a building aligned either east-north-east to west-south-west or north-north-west to south-south-east. It was built from unfinished limestone slabs which had been infilled with smaller limestone fragments. No construction cut was visible, with the marked difference between the internal and external deposits suggesting the building had been constructed within a single large cut (so that its floor level would been below that of the surrounding ground). The earliest internal deposits (possible trample layers containing limestone chips likely to represent construction debris) produced pottery of 14th- to 15th-century date and were overlain by a floor surface of limestone slabs. This floor was overlain by an ashy deposit, a sample from which contained a variety of debris likely to represent domestic hearth waste, including cereal grains and other plant macrofossils that had probably been charred during culinary preparation and charred material potentially derived from floor materials. This burnt material was sealed by a fine sand that potentially represented a flood deposit, which was in turn overlain by another ashy layer (which appeared to have been deposited while still hot). It is possible both layers of burnt material were dumped after this building had fallen out of use.
A north-north-west to south-south-east aligned linear feature in the western trench was likely to represent the robbed-out remains of another medieval wall, although no associated floor surface were identified. This feature fragments of medieval ceramic building material, including part of a brick of probable 14th- or 15th-century date.
A number of other features were likely to have been broadly contemporary with these medieval structures, including a linear feature which was adjacent and parallel to the eastern side of the building exposed in the eastern trench. This contained a significant quantity of mortar, along with pottery of 14th- to 15th-century date. Four medieval pits were also recorded – three in the western trench and one to the east – all of which contained dumps of construction or demolition debris. This dumped material contained numerous medieval brick and tile fragments, including additional bricks of probable 14th- to 15th-century date. Two blocks of medieval building stone were also recovered from one of these pits. As with the deposits associated with the buildings themselves there was a notable absence of post-medieval material.
These medieval remains and a sequence of dumped layers in the eastern trench were all sealed by extensive deposits likely to represent make-up material laid down in the early post-medieval period. These deposits were overlain by probable garden soils, from which a small amount of late post-medieval pottery was recovered. In the eastern trench the probable garden soil was overlain by the remains of a cobbled surface. Various modern features and structures were also recorded, including a pit, a brick-lined cess pit and various service trenches.
See report (S2) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 26 February 2024.