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Archaeology in Worcester
1997/ 99 - Medieval Defences
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 (Aerial survey by MAPS 1999™) 
Archaeological Sites on Worcester's Medieval
City Walls, 1997/999 - Click on a site marker
tosee the report. |
See also: 
Worcester 1250
AD Model
Potted History of Worcester
- The Middle Ages
Old Maps & Plans - Speed 1610
Old Maps &
Plans - Speed 1660
Old Photographs and Paintings
- The City Walls
Aerial Views of
Worcester - City Centre |
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Remains of two of the medieval gate structures were identified in 1998. A watching brief (WCM 100245) during sewer relining in The Foregate recorded a curving mortared sandstone structure, at a depth of 1m from the modern road surface; a length of 1.80m could be seen. This has been interpreted as the foundation of the west side of the eastern gate tower of the Foregate, built before 1182 and demolished in 1702 (Beardsmore 1980, 61); due to road widening the former gate passage is now on the far west of the street. A large brick built sewer of the mid 19th century passes through the gateway though apparently without affecting either tower. The Sidbury Gate survival is rather more substantial. Most of the gate now lies under the widened street, but the north side of the north tower was revealed during foundation works in 1907 (Spackman 1910), and incorporated into the cellar wall of a new building. Subsequently the survival of this fragment, and indeed the existence of the cellar, was forgotten, and it was not until a change of ownership in 1998 that the gate tower was rediscovered. A watching brief at 3-5 The Butts (WCM 100194; on behalf of Carmichael and Sons), required as a condition of scheduled monument consent, located the medieval City Ditch, subsequently cleaned and recut as a Civil War defence. Sampling of the waterlogged deposits allowed unique insight into the dietary habits and local industries of the mid-17th century, containing seeds of flax, hemp and fuller's teasel and fragments of leather and twine. Evidence of food waste included cherry and plum stones, grape and apple pips, coriander and fennel seeds. The earliest cork yet found in the County probably fitted an onion flask, the contents of which were drunk sometime around the 1650s. Parts of the City Wall were also recorded here. Another watching brief by Worcestershire County Archaeological Service, on a borehole survey at 16-18 Sansome St (WCM 100091), did not record any deposits which could be attributed to the medieval defences. A watching brief was undertaken at 4-5 Cornmarket (WCM 100534), on behalf of Margam Service Stations Ltd, during the excavation of three test trenches to establish the nature of the foundations of the existing 20th century building on the site. Trenches 1 and 2 identified the presence of at least 1m of modern material in the area of the two trenches. Whether this is a localised backfilled cellar or a general levelling/makeup layer across the site was not established. The chapel of Berkeley's Hospital, The Foregate, built in c 1700, was refurbished and extended in 1998 to form a community room. The chapel is built over the city ditch (then recently infilled), and the foundations of the north wall, where a test pit was dug, are at least 3m deep. This wall incorporates an unusual relieving arch at ground level, presumably because of the problematic ground conditions. Finds from the test pit and other foundation works included a single decorated floor tile (WCM 100238, 100357). A record was made of the length of City Wall surviving at 37 Friar Street, prior to consolidation work as part of the cinema development (WCM 100525; see above). Three evaluation trenches provided information on the bank which had been constructed within the wall during the medieval period, and features sealed by it and cutting its surface. An evaluation on behalf of Worcester Citizens Advice Bureau at Hopmarket Yard (WCM 100557), in advance of the construction of a new headquarters building, identified a sequence of deposits and features comprising a soil of Roman date, several phases of 17th to 18th century activity and 18th and 19th century building remains and services. No evidence of the City Wall or associated features was found, suggesting that the defences probably lie to the north of the area excavated. A watching brief at Stables Court, Angel Row, by Worcestershire County Archaeological Service on behalf of D Holder, recorded medieval deposits within the City Wall (WCM 100195). The work already mentioned at the Dyson Perrins Museum extension recovered no evidence of the City Wall on its anticipated alignment (see City Centre sites). |
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