Monument record 2600/0/51 - Medieval boundary ditch and post-medieval buildings, Church Street

Archaeological evaluation identified a boundary ditch dating to the 11th/12th century and buildings probably dating to the 17th and 18th centuries. A coin hoard, possibly buried during the Civil War, was found in a posthole of one of the buildings.

{1, 2} Archaeological evaluation was undertaken in 2001. Evidence was identified of a two-phase northern boundary, possibly dating to as early as the twelfth or even eleventh century. This ditch could be part of the early tenement rows which are thought to have been laid out in Southorpe. These ditches had clearly been abandoned and infilled by 1621 when the Elmes Survey records a building on this part of the site.

A gully with a post-socket positioned at its eastern end is of some interest as the post-socket contained a small coin hoard. Ten coins were discovered, placed on edge, and arranged in a semi-circle around the western edge of the post-socket. It seems likely that they had been pushed into a small gap between the post-socket and the post which it contained; the post would have served as a clear reminder of the position of the hoard. These features lie within the bounds of the buildings recorded on the 1621 Elmes Survey and the 1775 Inclosure map and may well be elements of an internal screen or partition. The coins consisted of eight shilling pieces and two sixpences and range in date from 1561 to 1642. A concealment at the start of the Civil War seems likely and at this time nine shillings was quite a considerable sum, perhaps two or three weeks wages for a skilled craftsman.

Several elements of a building were found, including a cobbled yard butting against an area of flat stone paving with integral drain gully, a rubble layer which was sealed by the cobbles and two short sections of wall; this complex of features lies a little to the west of the north-south building range recorded in 1775, and apparently along the southern wall of the main east-west range of the buildings mapped in 1621, 1775 etc to 1950. Dating evidence for the features was scarce. The walls may have been late medieval ot early post-medieval in date. The yard surfaces may be seen as those which survived until 1950, and the walls perhaps as lean-to or annexe-type structures built against the southern wall of the main east-west building range.These suggested annexes could then be of almost any date from the first construction of the 1621 building, which could of course have been of some antiquity when it was first mapped.

<1> Ivens R.J., 2002, Final Report on An Archaeological Evaluation of 23 Church Street, Warmington, Northamptonshire, P. 9 (Report). SNN102121.

<2> Ivens R., 2001, Interim Report on An Archaeological Evaluation of 23 Church Street, Warmington, Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Report). SNN102144.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2023 3:16PM