Princesshay, Exeter: Excavations 1997-2006.
Exeter Archaeology, 2021. https://doi.org/10.5284/1084986. How to cite using this DOI
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Primary contact
Owen
Cambridge
Principal Project Manager (Heritage)
City Development
Exeter City Council
Civic Centre
Paris Street
Exeter
EX1 1NN
England
Tel: +44 (0)1392 265224
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 3830
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1084986
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
Between 1997 and 2006 Exeter Archaeology undertook a series of investigations within Princesshay, a 1950s shopping centre occupying some 4.7 ha of the north-eastern quadrant of Exeter City Centre. This (centred on NGR SX 9223 9275) mostly lay within the Roman and Medieval town walls, immediately to the northwest of the earlier Roman military fortress, but also included some of the extra mural defensive ditches of Roman to 17C Civil War date. The work was undertaken for the developer, Land Securities plc, in advance of redevelopment and as a condition of planning permission, and included phases of evaluation & monitoring, culminating in a series of large scale excavations in 2005-06.
The excavations revealed evidence of some Iron Age activity, followed in the early Roman period by a cremation and a large post-built structure which may have been a funerary enclosure, succeeded by the defensive ditches and interval towers of a military enclosure, all apparently contemporary with the legionary fortress (c. AD 50/55–75). Early Roman civil occupation was represented by a series of enclosures and streets, with extensive evidence for tile production. Following the late C2 construction of the town wall, in the C3 & C4 the site was occupied by group of substantial but heavily robbed town houses which were extended and remodelled before their abandonment in the late C4.
Occupation during the Saxo-Norman period was represented by a large number of cess- and rubbish pits that are assumed to lie in the rear portion of tenements running back from the High street. A large quantity of rare, locally produced Bedford Garage ware pottery, including wasters, was recovered from the features. The remains of the Roman town house appear to have been comprehensively robbed during this period. In the first half of the C13 a Dominican friary was established in the southern part of the redevelopment area. Elements of the north aisle, nave, and presbytery of Blackfriars church were found to survive, and around 70 burials were excavated. Small elements of the medieval underground passages (a water supply system, and a scheduled monument) were also exposed and recorded.
In the area to the north of the city wall, a sequence of defensive ditches dating from the Roman, medieval and civil war periods were found, extending outwards from the wall for some 40m. The line of the C12 cathedral aqueduct was located, skirting the outside face of the city wall in the interval between that and the inner edge of the ditch.
Large quantities of finds were recovered, which, for some classes of material, represent the most extensive and significant groups to have been retrieved by excavation in Exeter. Notable finds include an Exeter-minted King John silver penny, a C15 enamelled gold posy ring, a large group of C15 jugs recovered from the fill of a well, of which over 50 are sufficiently complete to be reconstructed, evidence of bell casting, and a large collection of architectural fragments.
