Series: Jackie Hall unpublished report series

During the conversion of this building back from offices to flats, archaeological observations were made of both the building and new service trenches, principally concentrating on features that revealed the original layout and use of the building during its use as an almshouse from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. This included a digital photographic record before works began, and as plaster and partitions were removed. Features were marked up to scale on the architect's plans and a reconstructions made of each floor. Historical research further added to the understanding of the building and its uses. The service trenches were monitored but were largely unrevealing, The architectural fragments, formerly belonging to the Abbey of Peterborough, were recorded by the Cathedral Archaeologist The pre-works observations, combined with map regression and other research, showed (contra earlier suggestions) that the whole building was newly built in 1848. The different builds visible on the west side are the result of an earlier adjoining building, its removal, and the subsequent refacing of the west wall, below the gable. Documentary evidence, backed up by observations within the building, proves that there were eight almswomen housed here, six of them provided with a large room and a small subsidiary room or rooms, which might have functioned as a tiny bedroom, or storage; two of them did not have secondary rooms. Observations during the building works themselves added further information, such as the location of lost doors, the original appearance of the central ground floor passageway, and the identification of original windows and partitions. In short, far more survived of the original arrangements than previously thought. Below ground deposits exposed by trenching for a new foul drain produced evidence for wholesale demolition of the Victorian washhouse and reuse of its materials in the walls of the new extension; the trenches for gas electricity were less informative.

The coursed rubble and brick wall on the north side of the garden of Archdeaconry House developed a serious lean, about 19m from the eastern boundary of the Cathedral precincts. Two small trial pits, each c.0.60 x 0.60m, were opened up for inspection of the foundations by a structural engineer, one on the north side and one on the south side about 1.75m apart. This work was undertaken with archaeological supervision. The north hole revealed significant stepped foundations, while the south hole did not reveal stepped foundations, instead the wall continued straight down to a lesser depth. This seems to indicate a medieval origin for the wall, with multiple later rebuildings of the wall, which the pottery suggests can be no earlier than the 19th century. The presence of 13th-century material at the lowest level on the south side supports earlier views of lengthy occupation in this area.

Works were undertaken in the north cemetery area to improve the parking and in the north, east and south cemeteries to replace the electricity main. Both sets of works were only expected to disturb already disturbed deposits or very modern deposits, hence monitoring, rather than excavation. The specific archaeological aims of the project were: • To identify and record all archaeological features and artefacts exposed during groundworks. • To determine the form, function, spatial arrangement and sequence of the archaeological features encountered. • To recover dating evidence from the archaeological features and deposits. • To retrieve environmental evidence relating to the environment and economy of the site. • To interpret the archaeological features and finds within the context of the known archaeology of the site and surrounding area. • To record and respectfully reinter any disarticulated human remains. • To stop work, inform the Cathedral and other relevant authorities, if it appeared that any significant archaeological deposits would be destroyed by the groundworks and request permission from CFCE. The open area, to the north, was stripped to a depth of c.0.30m in order to create more formal parking spaces. Aside from topsoil, and mid-17th- to 18th-century finds, two modern features were seen: a disused iron water main and a well-made single parking space, lined with reused headstones. The electricity trench, to the south and east, to locate the electricity main, was dug to a depth of c.0.60m, The whole trench, only 0.30‒0.45m wide, was dug within the width of previous disturbance and no archaeological features or layers were seen; apart from a cast iron water main. The observations of 2020‒21 continue to confirm earlier watching briefs in the cemetery and augment the body of evidence relating to the poorly documented landscaping of this part of the cathedral precincts. This suggests that a large quantity of soil was imported, probably part of the many works of Dean Monk in the 1820s.

The programme of works which focused upon Bishop's Gate (Knights' Chamber) and the adjoining No. 25 Minster Precincts was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and aimed to provide a Heritage and Education Centre for visitors to the cathedral and to present previously inaccessible parts of the precinct buildings to the public. These aims have been achieved by refurbishing No. 25 and installing a lift to provide universal access to its upper floors, and by re-opening a doorway between the two buildings. These, and the associated repair and conservation works which largely focused upon the exterior of the Bishop's Gate, provided opportunities for archaeological investigation of parts of the two buildings, both above and below ground. Although the works programme made only limited areas available for archaeological investigation and recording, the collected evidence has greatly increased our understanding of the development of the eastern half of the range on the south side of Galilee Court, including the medieval appearance of the 'Knights' Chamber', the adjacent range, and a close-up photographic record of the gateway statues.

This project recorded the results of an archaeological mitigation strategy implemented during provision of new heating, fed by underfloor pipes, and new boiler and sump in St John the Baptist, Barnack. Two new lengths were required in the north and south aisles, respectively, and a pit was dug for a new pump in the boiler room. The ducts revealed the footings for the north aisle wall, earlier floor levels in the south aisle and part of the cut and fill of a grave. Apart from a very small quantity of disarticulated bone, only two finds were retrieved - a fragment of pottery and a fragment of glass. The bottom and side of the duct in the Anglo-Saxon tower was also recorded, since, unlike elsewhere, it was not entirely brick lined. While there were no heaters, stone walls were photographed, including part of the 10th-century tower north wall. The boiler room was photographed while it was empty, and considered to have medieval origins, either as a charnel house or crypt. An 11th-century grave cover was found in the walls. The pit in the boiler room was dug entirely into natural. Lastly, a new piece of early sculpture was discovered, not as part of the heating works, but in the north-west quoin of the Anglo-Saxon nave, quite accidentally, during lunch on the last day of archaeological observations.