Building record 4959/1/11 - Cloister at St James' Abbey

{1} Information relevant to the cloister area was obtained in Trenches 3, 4 and 13. They show that there was more than one phase of building within this area, and that a substantial, stone-lined drain served the building ranges on the southern side. The finds indicate that the buildings in this area possessed decorated tiled floors, glazed windows and were roofed in stone with ceramic ridge tiles, although the walls were both narrower and less deeply founded than those of the abbey church.
In Trench 3 a wall robber trench ran southward from the abbey church, but into an area containing far less demolition material. This probably related to either the cloister or to buildings surrounding the cloister.
In Trench 4 there were four distinct phases of building. A 1.0m wide north-south wall had replaced an east west wall. It had been totally robbed, but was abutted by a mortared plinth that may have supported a flight of steps with ashlar treads. A narrower unmortared wall stood to the west, it survived up to four course high and appeared to be abutted by an intact floor surface.
In Trench 13 there was a succession of stone-lined drains. The later drain was lined with large slabs of limestone. It was not capped, although a capping may have remaoved, and the gritty silts produced an assemblage of smaller bone that included both fish and bird bone, indicating their importance in the diet of the of the monks. These drains presumably served the buildings standing on the southern side of the cloister, and they therefore mark the southern extent.

{2} Notes on a composition on vellum at St James' Abbey, drawing with measurements of wall of St James' Abbey on roadside between Northampton and Upton;

<0> Chapman A , Chapman P, 2000-01, Northampton, Express Lift Company, Abbey Works, (unchecked) (Note). SNN104001.

<1> Chapman A., 2000, Archaeological Evaluation Of The Former Express Lift Company, Abbey Works, Weedon Road, Northampton, P. 29 (Report). SNN100471.

<2> Dryden H.E.L., 1842-1895, Dryden Collection, DR/25/198/65, 36 (Archive). SNN115.

Record last edited

Oct 16 2024 11:18AM