Monument record 130/9 - Medieval building, east of Bridge Street

Trial trench excavation on land to the rear of properties on Bridge Street identified part of a stone-founded building with surviving floor levels.

{1}Medieval and post-medieval buried deposits comprising the truncated remains of a later medieval building and associated floor levels deeply buried 900mm below modern ground level recovered during trial trenching. Documentary research has indicated that tenements fronting onto market at this location included a property (held in 14th century by Alice le Wollemongre) named "le Blakehalle". In 1486 a hospice (an inn not a tavern) called the Blackhall was recorded on the site. In 1506/1520 the building was known as The Crown.

{3} Within Trench 2, which located closest to the frontage [rear of 4 Bridge Street] the foundations of a demolished building together with demolition rubble and fragmentary floor surfaces were found. The floor comprised small stone slabs. Large fragments from a Brill/Boarstall 'triple decker' baluster jug and ?Nuneaton A ware pitcher dating from the 13th/14th century were found in layer overlying the floor.

{4}None of the wool merchants’ houses are known to survive in the town, though this is still possible as no systematic survey of the interior of Brackley’s standing buildings has been conducted. One of the wool merchants’ own tenements may have been the ‘Blackhall’, which lay on the south frontage of the heart of the market. This was the capital messuage of John Maurice which had been purchased from him by Thomas de Luton and then in 1317 by Tydman le Swarthe. This seems to be the property which included fishponds below the garden, extending up to the Grove. Also probably part of this property was the upper floor 58ft long by 18ft wide with a sewer below the close of the messuage. By the time of its release to the Hospital in 1330 the Blackhall comprised 2 messuages.

<1> CHAPMAN A., 1996, Bronnley Soapworks, Brackley, (unchecked) (SMR Report Form). SNN49472.

<2> Chapman A., 1996-97, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1996-7, p216 Brackley (Checked) (Notes). SNN104580.

<3> Anon, 1996, Former Bronnley Soapworks Site, Brackley, Northamptonshire: Desktop study and archaeological evaluation- Area A (Report). SNN113780.

<4> Ballinger J.; Foard G., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Brackley, Section3.5.3 Inns and Alehouses (Digital archive). SNN100499.

Record last edited

Jul 21 2022 3:23PM