Surrey Archaeological Collections
Surrey Archaeological Society, 2003. (updated 2023) https://doi.org/10.5284/1000221. How to cite using this DOI
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- ADS Collection: 379
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000221
- How to cite using this DOI
SURREY ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS
Insights into the development of medieval and post-medieval riverside buildings at Mortlake
LORRAINE DARTON
Archaeological excavations were recently undertaken on two riverside sites along the north side of Mortlake High Street, in an area where the 16th century mathematician Dr John Dee once resided, and where Flemish weavers produced works for Charles I in the 17th century at the Mortlake tapestry works. A succession of late medieval and post-medieval buildings was discovered on plots between the river Thames and Mortlake High Street, in the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames. Two pits, a ditch and a structure, represented by stakeholes and postholes, pre-dated the late medieval buildings. The excavations revealed a complex sequence of floor surfaces and wall footings of houses, outbuildings and drains that once stood here. The earliest masonry structure may have been used as a 15th century bakery or kitchen at the rear of a commercial property. Documentary research focusing on two 17th century surveys has linked the changing ownership of properties with the development of the Mortlake tapestry works and the probable location of Dr John Dee's house. The changes in the architecture and plot layouts of the excavated buildings between the late medieval and post-medieval periods reflect urban building trends and show Mortlake increasingly becoming part of the City of London's trading hinterland.
