Title: |
Site Adjoining 68 Castle Street, Cambridge. An Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment |
Number of Pages: |
35 |
Biblio Note |
Please note that this is a bibliographic record only, as originally entered into the BIAB database.
The ADS have no files for download, and unfortunately cannot advise further on where to access hard copy or digital versions.
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Publication Type: |
Report
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Abstract: |
An archaeological desk-based assessment was undertaken of the site in advance of the proposed construction of a residential building (divided into 8 flats) with a basement car park. A considerable amount of archaeological work had been undertaken in the Castle Hill area in recent years, with excavations taking place close to the site at Castle Court and on the opposite side of Castle Street. This work had revealed a number of phases of activity from the prehistoric period onwards (including the development of a large Iron Age hill-top settlement subsequently 'redeveloped' in the Roman period as the small town of Durolipons). Evidence from the town in the Saxon period was still rather sketchy, though it was fortified on a number of occasions in the later Saxon period, and the area of Castle Hill was again redeveloped in the 11th century with the construction of the Norman motte-and-bailey castle. The castle complex (including the curtain walls and moat) was substantially re-ordered and reconstructed by Edward I in the late 13th century, with the line of the defences passing adjacent, or through, the area of proposed development. Medieval occupation of the streets surrounding the castle grew as the castle ceased to be of great importance, and the 'bulge' in the straight line of Castle Street showed the former approach to the main gatehouse entrance. The area of proposed development lay central to all this activity, occupying an important position close to the crest of the hill. The level of truncation of the site was difficult to establish, though there were no known references to quarrying activity within the site itself. The adjacent No.68 Castle Street was basemented, and it was likely that the street frontage area of the former terraced buildings on the site itself were previously basemented, though this remained so far unproven. If indeed there was evidence for the moat or bank of the medieval castle within the site then this may have truncated all traces of any earlier periods on the site. When the moat was examined in 1990 by Malim and Taylor elsewhere on the site, this large feature was found to have been cleared on the post-medieval period, and revealed no surviving medieval deposits. It would be important to characterise the presence of any of the Edwardian or Cromwellian defences that were believed to follow the former parish boundary immediately adjacent to (or indeed within) the site, and to establish whether any surviving elements of the Iron Age settlement or Romano-British small town were present within the site. [Au(adp)] |
Author: |
J Murray
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Publisher: |
Hertfordshire Archaeological Trust
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Year of Publication: |
2001
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Locations: |
Location - Auto Detected: |
Castle Street |
Location - Auto Detected: |
Castle Hill |
Location - Auto Detected: |
Castle Court |
Location - Auto Detected: |
No68 Castle Street |
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Subjects / Periods: |
EARLY MEDIEVAL
(Historic England Periods)
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MEDIEVAL
(Historic England Periods)
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ROMAN
(Historic England Periods)
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EARLY MEDIEVAL
(Historic England Periods)
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Postmedieval (Auto Detected Temporal) |
Late 13th Century (Auto Detected Temporal) |
11th Century (Auto Detected Temporal) |
IRON AGE
(Historic England Periods)
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PREHISTORIC
(Historic England Periods)
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Edwardian (Auto Detected Temporal) |
MEDIEVAL
(Historic England Periods)
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Note: |
Date Of Issue From:
2001
Date Of Coverage From:
01
Date Of Coverage To:
01
Editorial Expansion:
Site name: 68 CASTLE STREET, CAMBRIDGE Study area: 0.0391ha Investigation type: Desk-based District: Cambridge Monument: Ngr: TL44445930 Parish: Postcode: CB3 0AS
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Source: |
BIAB
(Archaeological Investigations Project (AIP))
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Created Date: |
19 Jan 2009 |