Trans Worcestershire Archaeol Soc 13

The area to the east of the junction of Sidbury and Friar Street has been the subject of excavation since 1959. Evidence dating from the Roman period included a first century ditch which may have delineated an early boundary of the settlement. The ditch was succeeded by a sequence of surfaces which represented a road leading up into the community further to the north. Alongside the road a variety of timber buildings formed part of a small suburb. Areas around the road were associated with large quantities of iron slag: the waste material was utilised to repair one of the later road surfaces. By the third century the suburb had taken on a more domestic flavour, characterised by large assemblages of household waste, a greater number of prestige artefacts and a series of wooden drains running down the side of the road. Towards the end of the century a major shift on focus caused a realignment of the road and a less intensive use of the area. Settlement in the area was soon abandoned and a highly mixed soil accumulated over the pebble surface. A final pebble layer was constructed on top of the soil accumulation only to be truncated by a number of medieval and post-medieval levelling events. No evidence was recorded for any post-Roman activity before the tenth century. Specialist reports include: `The samian' by Brenda Dickinson (57--61); `The amphorae' by D F Williams (62--3); `The stamped mortaria' by Kay Hartley (64--5); `Ceramic building material' by Irena Lentowicz (66--7); `The brooches' by D F Mackreth (73--7); `Examination of the slags from Sidbury' by Gerry McDonnell (82--3); `The glass' by Dorothy Charlesworth (83--4); `The intaglio' by Martin Henig (84); `The worked stone' by Fiona Roe (85--8); `Finds of flint and chert' by Alan Saville (88); `The animal bone' by Sally Scott (88--91) and `The environmental report' by Clare de Rouffignac (92).

A summary of this major series of excavations. Evidence retrieved includes: indications of prehistoric occupation; Romano-British civilian occupation, ironworking and cemetery; a dark earth layer; Late Saxon urban occupation and defences; medieval settlement evidence and a bronze foundry; and some early post medieval occupation. Full reports forthcoming.

Since 1961 a red sandstone tower and adjacent lawn are all that remain of the Caldwall estate. A J Perrett, a local historian, postulated that Caldwall might in fact be the berewick listed in the Domesday survey as Suduuale. Excavations were undertaken to confirm the presence of a manor house and investigate whether Caldwall could be confirmed as Suduuale. The remains of a fourteenth century mill near to the manor house site, including a leat, are also described. Ten phases of activity were isolated. The earliest phase, an arcaded hall with a cross wing, was dated by finds evidence to the twelfth century. The next phase, characterised by an upper floor hall house and drain, was followed by the addition of the tower and a range of buildings east of that tower. A Queen Anne house was built c 1690 with alterations evidenced after 1700. A substantial brick building built c 1750 may indicate an industrial phase -- possibly involving tanning. Between c 1800 and 1910 activity took the form of various outbuildings and alterations and in 1910 a modern drainage system was installed when the house was converted into a school for cookery and domestic science. The hall became offices for the health department in 1929 and continued in use until its demolition in 1961 -- a continuous occupation span of more than 700 years. There are reconstruction drawings of the hall c 1350 and section diagrams from the excavations with key guides illustrating the sequence of events and features. The small finds are listed in a catalogue section. No particularly rich or seemingly important artefacts were unearthed, though there were two discoveries of note. These took the form of an ivory pocket sundial dating to c seventeenth century and a group of objects, mostly comprising lead weights, that were found buried in a hole under the floor of the Queen Anne house. There is an appendix (164) providing an extract of a letter from the Ministry of Public Building and Works to the author, dated 1970, pointing Caldwall out as a site of interest. The presence of a substantial manor house of some antiquity was thus confirmed and, whilst no conclusive evidence to validate the claim that Caldwall was Suduuale has been uncovered, it is thought that circumstantial evidence renders it likely.

Pottery, pits and other features indicate activity from as early as the thirteenth century. Any future building development in the area will need to be closely monitored.

Documentary evidence forms the base of a study of church refurbishment in the ten parishes of Worcester during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Reports the discovery of two copper alloy seal-matrices.