NHER 777 (Monument record) - Castle Mall Development

Archaeological excavation, largely between 1989 and 1991, prior to and during the construction of the Castle Mall shopping centre in Norwich, was one of the largest of its kind in northern Europe. The work was designed to investigate not only the south bailey of Norwich Castle but also pre-Conquest settlement and, for the post-Conquest period, areas of the surrounding medieval city. Evidence was uncovered for Late Saxon houses and graveyards; the developing fortifications of the royal castle established before 1100; gradual encroachment by the townspeople into the castle precinct after the 13th century; documentation relating to the development of medieval properties; crafts and industries associated with these plots — notably bell-founding; a late medieval assemblage of great significance from the barbican well — ironwork, leather waste, bird and animal bone; and huge finds assemblages resulting from the steady infilling of castle ditches with domestic and commercial refuse.