|
|
|
(Aerial
survey by MAPS 1999™)
Archaeological Sites in Worcester City
Centre 1997/999 - Click on a site marker
to see the report.
|
City Centre
By far the largest archaeological project to have taken place
in the city since the Deansway excavations of 1989-90 has been the
sequence of work at the City Arcades, between the High Street and
the Shambles. Because the site was occupied by a 1950s shopping arcade,
which was not demolished until construction was ready to begin, an
early field evaluation was not possible, and the whole programme took
place after the plans were approved.The archaeological work was organised
by Glazzard Associates Architects on behalf of Lloyds TSB Pensions
Trust Limited. The account given here is provisional, based upon preliminary
analysis of the site records. |
City Arcades - A desk-based assessment by Cotswold Archaeological
Trust (WCM 100416) identified the overall archaeological interest
and allowed further interpretation of the finds made here in the 1950s
(Russell 1959; Shearer 1957). The conclusion was that significant
Roman, medieval and post-medieval remains were likely to survive in
any areas unaffected by basements or by the foundations of the 1950s
arcade.
An evaluation by the Worcestershire County Archaeological Service
early in 1999 (WCM 100526) produced evidence of the foundations of
a substantial Roman building near the High Street (below the basement
floor slab), and there were indications that medieval and early post-medieval
remains survived across much of the site. Loss of deposits due to
the foundations of the 1950s shopping centre was far less than anticipated,
and total destruction was limited to the areas of the very deepest
cellars.
Redesign of the foundations ensured that the Roman remains near the
High Street were not disturbed. However, at the Shambles end of the
site, damage to deposits was unavoidable, and consequently selected
areas were chosen for excavation following the demolition of the old
shopping centre.
The excavation (WCM 100543) comprised three trenches: one extending
east to west close to the north side of the site, one nearer the centre
of the development area, and one close to the Shambles frontage. These
were located in the areas where elements of the new foundations were
to be clustered. The machine removal of the later buildings and their
floors revealed the remains of the Victorian market hall and of the
King's Head, a coaching inn which boasted Worcester's first theatre
(c 1715-79). Although this was somewhat disparagingly described by
a London critic in 1775 as 'a sort of barn with a stage three yards
wide', it was a typical provincial theatre, and has the claim of being
where Sarah Siddons made her debut prior to gaining wider fame in
London.
Surviving evidence of the inn and theatre was limited, however. Walls,
cobbled surfaces and a cellar may represent elements of the theatre
and stabling behind the inn. Perhaps most evocatively, the fills of
several pits produced numerous clay pipes, onion bottles, glass goblet
fragments, a great dump of oyster shells and a gaming dice, all of
which provide glimpses of the social life of the 17th and 18th century
population.
Late medieval/early post-medieval activity included the remains of
a substantial sandstone building fronted by a yard. A 15th to 16th
century date is indicated by associated finds and it is possible that
this was a large store or barn standing behind buildings fronting
the Shambles. Beneath these remains a series of very large pits were
revealed, some of which were over 2m deep. These produced important
assemblages of pottery and other artefacts of 12th through to 14th
century date which had been thrown into the pits as they fell out
of use. These would have lain in the plots behind buildings along
the Shambles, an important commercial thoroughfare in medieval Worcester.
The finds and associated environmental evidence will provide important
information on trade and town life in this part of the medieval city.
In conjunction with evidence from some augering, the sections of these
pits indicated that the central part of the site appeared to be crossed
by the line of a broad infilled ditch, represented by tip lines of
sandy soil and limestone rubble. Due to its depth and size (8m or
more across and over 2m deep), it was not possible to investigate
the ditch in any great detail, though further observations during
a subsequent watching brief (by James Dinn; WCM 100556) have allowed
some further definition of the feature. It appears that it may be
part of a previously unknown late Roman, post-Roman or possibly Saxon
defensive ditch running between, and parallel to the Shambles and
the High Street; it may also relate to Barker's 'ditch d', one of
a series of late Roman and later ditches recorded to the south of
Pump Street during the Lychgate development in the 1960s (Barker 1969b,
50-1 and figs 7-8).
The trench by the Shambles did reveal Roman occupation deposits and
an oven, a ditch and a pit produced a fine assemblage of 1st to early
2nd century material. This may provide further evidence of activity
related to the substantial building revealed during the evaluation
lying near the High Street, while the layers of limestone rubble tipping
into the ditch may represent debris resulting from its demolition.
A complex series of evaluation and watching brief work has also taken
place at 37 and 49-55 Friar Street. Now occupied by a multiplex
cinema, this site first received archaeological attention with a watching
brief in 1975 (Hirst 1980) and excavations in 1976 and 1977 (Carver
1980b; Darlington and Evans 1992), revealing a complex sequence of
Roman, late Anglo-Saxon, medieval and post-medieval occupation.
A total of nine evaluation trenches were dug by the Worcestershire
County Archaeological Service between 1997 and 1999 (WCM 100186, 100198,
100525), on behalf of Dawa (Worcester) Ltd. These concentrated on
the northern part of the site, where there had previously been little
archaeological activity. Fills of a large Roman ditch, cut by a later
Roman pit, were noted close to the Friar Street frontage; this may
be one of the ditches recorded by Barker in the 1960s (Barker 1969b).
Eastwards from this, Roman gravelled surfaces were widespread.
An area to the rear of 37 Friar Street was occupied during the medieval
period (probably from the 13th century onwards) by a large stone-walled
building, probably with a vaulted ground floor. Mortar bedding with
tile impressions survived in places, and a large number of fragments
of high-quality decorated floor tiles were found in later deposits;
the floor had evidently been robbed, and no complete tiles remained.
A sequence of work, comprising evaluation (WCM 100146), and a watching
brief and limited excavation (WCM 100185), at the Dyson Perrins
Museum extension, Severn Street, was undertaken by Marches Archaeology
on behalf of the Museum Trust. Recorded features included an early
Roman ditch, with a single burial cut into the backfill, and a group
of 13th century pits. Surprisingly, no evidence for the city wall
was found.
Smaller watching briefs have occurred at several city centre sites.
At 13-14 St Swithins Street, excavation for the base of a new
lift shaft below an early 20th century basement revealed Roman features
which were recorded in section (WCM 100365). These included a small
pit filled with iron slag. Nearby, at 48-50 High St, a water
pipe trench was excavated through the floor slab of the former Littlewoods
store (early 1970s) and deposits below (WCM 100248). The sections
of the trench were recorded, with deposits of probable medieval or
early post-medieval date surviving to within 0.6m of the floor level
between the ground beams of the modern building.
Small-scale drainage works in Angel Place (WCM 100538) encountered
fragments of human bone, from the cemetery which occupied the site
from the mid 17th to early 19th century (Hughes (ed) 1986, 41-2).
At the Severn View Hotel, North Quay, internal alterations
included the lowering of some floor levels; a watching brief here
(WCM 100521) recovered an interesting though unstratified pottery
assemblage including a large part of a 16th or 17th century Saintonge-type
chafing dish. A watching brief during the excavation of shallow foundation
trenches to the rear of 4-6 Friar Street (WCM 100256) produced
a small assemblage of medieval and early post-medieval pottery from
garden soil layers.
A survey of the timber frame of 21 Friar Street was produced
by Richard Crook in advance of alterations to this listed 17th century
building (WCM 100724), on behalf of D Ball. The rear wing has an early
19th century 'upper cruck' roof structure, while the timber frame
of the front range rests on sandstone foundations.
Cotswold Archaeological Trust carried out a desk-based assessment
(WCM 100427) of a large area around the former cattle market in The
Butts (St Clements Gate), on behalf of Kimberley Developments
plc. It was possible to identify a wide range of archaeological potential,
including remains of the City Wall and ditch, St Clement's church,
and Roman ironworking. The assessment was able to build on the reports
on the St Clements Gate area produced as part of the Urban Design
Campaign (Whitehead 1996; Baker 1996; Dalwood 1996).
A detailed appraisal of the Quay Head area (South Quay and
Copenhagen Street) was undertaken in association with a lottery bid
for work on the scheduled ancient monument. Important archaeological
remains here include a stone foundation, still visible at the north-western
corner of Copenhagen Street car park, which is part of a substantial
medieval quayside building. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
