News from the City

Events of the last six months have of course been overshadowed by the untimely death of Charles Mundy in August. Charles’s many contributions to Worcester’s archaeology since 1985 are discussed elsewhere in this issue.

One of the most high profile developments in Worcester this year has been the resurfacing of the High Street, which is still underway. Although this was initially seen as a ‘minimum intervention’ scheme, it became clear once works started on site that some substantial groundworks would be needed. These included services, service connections, tree pits, and general ground improvement. An initial small-scale watching brief has therefore grown considerably. Work to date has concentrated on the northern part of the High Street, most of which was widened in the early 20th century. The remains therefore relate both to the roadway – several medieval and later street surfaces have been recorded, as well as a probable Roman slag surface – and to the buildings fronting it. A number of substantial stone-built cellars or undercrofts have been recorded, and nearly all the remains have been preserved in situ. In one or two places, medieval occupation surfaces survived close to the street frontage, a rare survival in Worcester.

A smaller street scheme – the replacement of gas mains in the Edgar Street area – has also resulted in the recording of medieval street surfaces and earlier layers.

A small excavation at King’s School examined remains associated with Worcester Castle. Further work is due here next year.

Work in Lowesmoor has continued to throw light on life, and in particular work, in this suburb. At 42-48 Lowesmoor (until recently the premises of Albany Fine China), assessment and evaluation has thrown light on the development of the buildings and street pattern. Buried remains here included evidence of medieval ironworking and tilemaking in the immediate area. At 45 Lowesmoor, a watching brief recorded a medieval tile kiln. This is the first kiln structure to be identified in this suburb, though evaluation of a nearby site in 1990 recovered quantities of decorated tile wasters. Evaluation of land around St George’s RC church revealed medieval pits and soil layers, but no structural features; finds included fragments of a bell mould.

The evaluation at Newport Street, reported in the last issue, has indicated an area of complex and very well preserved medieval occupation remains, surviving very close to the modern surface. These included stone-built cellars (another survives in the cellar of one of the standing buildings here), and hearths, perhaps within a dyer’s workshop, dated to the 14th-15th centuries. Building remains dated to the 16th, 17th and 18th-19th centuries were also recorded. At a deeper level were deposits of iron slag, probably Roman and up to 1.5m thick. At one point they were overlain by a layer of peat, which is believed to predate the 11th century and therefore has significant potential to provide information on the environment and landscape surrounding Worcester at this period.

The Heritage Lottery Fund have approved a £1M grant for the Commandery, and it is hoped that the archaeological work here will begin towards the end of the year. ‘Open access’ archaeological excavation will take place here in June-July 2005 and June-July 2006.

Finally, a model survey for management of the historic landscape. Worcestershire County Council’s Countryside Service have been reviewing the management of Worcester Woods Country Park (Nunnery Wood and adjacent farmland), and commissioned a detailed landscape archaeological survey. This identified features relating to medieval open-field cultivation (including extensive ridge and furrow within the woodland) and woodland enclosure, as well as surviving features of the deserted Hornhill Farm. The historic features will be protected through a comprehensive management plan.