MoLAS Monograph

Excavations on the site of one of Britain's largest medieval hospitals took place between 1982 and 1991. There is a `Preface' by Roberta Gilchrist (ii). Previous recording was undertaken during the 1930s. The fully integrated report is designed to achieve a greater understanding of the site's history through a combination of stratigraphic, documentary, finds, and environmental evidence. The cemetery associated with the first foundation (1197) was partially excavated; no buildings were revealed, although architectural fragments were found. A 57m length of Bishopsgate Street, dating to the first half of the thirteenth century lay along the western edge of the study area. The extensive refoundation in 1235 marked the beginning of a complete rebuilding of the priory and hospital. A stone infirmary and chapel at right angles to each other were constructed, and an associated cemetery laid out to the west; the population of this thirteenth-century cemetery has been analysed and is notable for the high numbers of adolescents contained within it. A new infirmary was built at the end of the thirteenth century, and the northern end of its predecessor was used as a chapel; burials, some in tombs, were excavated in this chapel. In the garden of the infirmary lay a large waterlogged pit containing ceramic, wooden, and leather artefacts. The monastic cloister was also built at the end of the thirteenth century and evidence of timber buildings, possibly for the lay sisters, was found. During the fourteenth century the infirmary was extended, a stable was constructed, stone buildings were built for the lay sisters and new drainage systems were laid out and latrines built. Tenements for wealthy residents were constructed during the latter years of the establishment's history. Seven thematic chapters address particular aspects of the hospital. There are separately authored specialist reports on: `The pottery' by Roy Stephenson with Paul Spoerry (184--6); `Moulded stone' by Mark Samuel with Christina de Domingo (186--95); `Ceramic building material' by Naomi Crowley (195--201); `Non-ceramic finds' by Geoff Egan (201--10); `The glass' by Bridget Brehm, John D Shepherd & Christopher Thomas (210--15); `The leather' by Alison Nailer (215--17); `Clay tobacco pipes' by Kieron Heard (217--18); `The human bone' by Janice Conheeney (218--31); `The animal bone' by Alan Pipe (231--4); `The fish bones' by Alison Locker (234); `The plant remains' by Anne Davis (234--45); `Insect fauna' by David Smith (245--7); `Parasite remains' by Clare de Rouffignac (247--8); `The eggshell' by Jane Sidell (248); and the `Conservation' by Dana Goodburn-Brown (248--9). There are summaries in French and German, a bibliography and list of abbreviations, and an index.

Archaeological excavations conducted between 1983 and 1990 at different sites within an area covering about 12ha in Tower Hamlets, east of the City of London, have produced evidence for a large Roman cemetery. This was one of several serving Roman London, and lay immediately to the east of the town. During excavations 136 cremation burials and 550 inhumation burials were recorded, together with a further 165 features identified as disturbed burials without surviving human remains. They were dated from the first to the fifth century AD. Before the first burials took place towards the end of the first century AD, the landscape to the east of the Roman town was divided by ditches forming possible field boundaries, and quarries were opened up for sand and gravel. At some time around the end of the first century a road was built running eastwards from the town into this area, which was by then beginning to be used for burials. Construction of the town defences in c. AD 190--220 may have curtailed the area available for burials. At least twenty-nine distinct plots, demarcated by ditches and possible paths, have been identified as having been used for burials. The cemetery is distinct from any burials alongside the London to Colchester road, and the study area covers a tract of ground roughly to the south of this road and east of the town wall. The outer limits to the east and south are at present defined only by an absence of burials. Much of the evidence for the cemetery dates to the third and fourth centuries; There appears to be evidence for cremation even in relatively late contexts. Burials probably continued into the early-fifth century AD. There is evidence for a variety of burial rites, as well as funerary structures, inscriptions, ditches and pits. Of particular importance is evidence for the deposition of residues from funeral pyres. Most inhumations were extended and supine, but fourteen individuals were prone. The majority of inhumations were buried in wooden coffins, with a small number in other container types. Ninety had no evidence of any container, and eighty-one `chalk burials' were identified. At least seventy cremation burials were contained in urns, two in tile cists, and the remainder were unurned. Secondary containers for the urns included amphorae and wooden boxes. The osteology of the overall cemetery sample suggests that this was a homogeneous group, most people being born, raised and buried locally; infants and females were significantly under-represented. A large assemblage of artefacts, animal bones and some plant remains are catalogued in the report, and were found either with the burials or redeposited in grave fills and the surrounding strata. The latter were presumably derived largely from previous, disturbed burials, but also provide evidence for funerary practices and other activities carried out in the cemetery, including refuse disposal and possibly butchery. At least 137 inhumations and 33 cremations were accompanied by burial goods, and at least 65 cremation burials contained evidence for non-ceramic items burnt with the body, notably vegetable food remains. The burial and pyre goods include items rarely found in the nearby settlement, and some which are rare or unique in the British archaeological record. Includes French and German summaries. Separately authored reports include

Excavations in 1990 provided the first opportunity to examine the remains of the pothouse, its kiln, related finds and associated buildings. The site sequence commenced with late-sixteenth-century reclamation of the Thames foreshore. A chalk raft was laid between Narrow Street and the river and acted as the base for subsequent development. Fragmentary remains of the earliest buildings were recorded. Wholesale site clearance followed, after which a series of brick buildings were constructed. These dated from the late-seventeenth to early-eighteenth centuries. There was evidence for the demolition and subsequent replacement of some of these buildings during the later eighteenth century. The pothouse building was constructed during the early- to mid-eighteenth century. The kiln survived later rebuildings, albeit truncated and altered. The excavation recovered an assemblage of porcelain manufactured at the site. This included kiln furniture as well as both biscuit and glazed wasters. Forms included a range of tableware as well as miniatures. It is concluded that there were two types of fabric to the Limehouse ware, and that craftsmanship was not high. After the pothouse closed wares were sold off cheaply by auction, whilst other porcelain manufactories thrived. The Limehouse pothouse probably failed not only because the wares did not capture a market, but also because the research and development period was so expensive that any investment was not recovered. There is a note on:

Report on an excavation and watching brief in 1996--7 at the site of a substantial Roman townhouse previously identified in 1969 in Upper Thames Street, City of London. Although investigations were limited, a hitherto unsuspected prehistoric marsh was recorded. a pair of structures constructed from timbers apparently felled in AD 84 were tiebacks for a north-south quay, probably the east end of a river wharf. A post-and-plank revetment constructed between c. AD 100--20 was also identified, across the top of which a box-drain was cut in AD 125--6. Walls and floors of a number of buildings were recorded on the terraces overlooking the river, including two early structures predating the townhouse phase, one of which may have been a goldworker's premises and the other of which was rebuilt, possibly to form the north wing of the townhouse. Further details of the townhouse were recovered, including an area of the west wing with an underfloor heating system. Part of the drum and capital of a Roman Tuscan order column was recovered from a medieval pit overlying a corner of the building. Remains of contemporary buildings to the east of the townhouse were also recovered. Roman occupation apparently continued at least into the late-fourth century when the townhouse was demolished. Early-eleventh-century pitting was succeeded in the late-eleventh to early-twelfth centuries by a series of sunken-floored and cellared buildings constructed in dark earth deposits laid over the Roman remains. These were succeeded by later medieval chalk walls and foundations along the Laurence Pountney Lane frontage; a chalk and gravel foundation on cleft beech piles from the southern part of the site was of a type found from the early-twelfth century. Walls of at least two phases of the fourteenth-century Pountney's Inn, later the Manor of the Rose, were found; a chalk-lined well and cesspit associated with the manor may have been in use until the seventeenth century. The development of the site from the prehistoric marsh, through the Roman occupation, to the early and later medieval period, is discussed. The stratigraphic evidence is supported by specialist contributions, and an attempt is made to determine whether or not the results of the two phases of the project were successful in answering the research questions outlined before each began. The success of the mitigation strategy and its ramification for future management of the archaeological resource are also considered. Includes French and German summaries, and specialist appendices on

Study of a tile type named after Westminster Abbey where they were first recognised. Now sourced to a workshop in the Farringdon Road and found in locations from Canterbury to Staffordshire the question of whether their distribution represents the movement of tiles from a fixed point or the work of itinerant tilemakers is explored. Characterised as poor quality, large tiles made of a distinctive type of clay, the `Westminster' tilemakers' product was widely employed in monasteries, parish churches in the Greater London area and castles such as Kirby Muxloe (Leicestershire) and Baginton (Warwickshire). Over 160 designs were produced and the provenance of each design, together with the plain-glazed examples, is given in a catalogue. There are French and German summaries and a note on:

The volume provides a synthesis of the available prehistoric and topographic information from the area of north Southwark and Lambeth, London, in the period from approximately 9500 BC to AD 50. The authors consider the interplay between environmental and riverine change and `mobile' and `settled' human communities. They draw on unpublished data as well as published work, including a Mesolithic camp adjacent to a Late Glacial lake in Bermondsey, a burnt mound and ring ditch with an assemblage of cremations, and preserved ard marks. The book incorporates an account of the succession of the palaeoecological environment, and the prehistory of Southwark and Lambeth is set in the wider regional context of the Thames Valley. The thematic chapters are supported by a gazetteer of all findspots of prehistoric material and specialist reports on the worked flint, pottery and radiocarbon determinations. Includes French and German summaries.

The latest in a series of reports on the archaeological excavations near London Bridge Station, focussing on discoveries relating to the origins and development of Roman Southwark. From the prehistoric period on, this area formed the northernmost end of a series of sandy islands in the tidal reaches of the Thames. The earliest Roman features were drainage ditches and quarry pits associated with the construction of a road to the Thames bridgehead. Eight buildings were recorded along the eastern side of the road, including a blacksmiths' workshop. All of these buildings were destroyed by fire in the Boudiccan revolt of AD 60--61. New timber and masonry buildings were constructed in the area during the late first and second centuries. These included shops, a market hall, and a warehouse. Excavations revealed that extensive land reclamation took place on the marginal eastern fringes of the island before the construction of second- and third-century houses. One of these houses contained a mosaic, and painted wall plaster was recorded to the west of the road with part of a large building interpreted as a mansion. Includes specialist reports on building materials, Roman pottery, accessioned finds, glass, Roman coins, iron smithing, botanical remains, animal bones, eggshell, and archaeological conservation on the Jubilee Line Extension Project. Also includes French and German summaries.

The river crossing and access to the River Thames were major influences on the siting of Roman Southwark, where Watling Street and Stane Street converged. Excavations at Courage's Brewery revealed an archaeological sequence dating back to prehistoric times. The Roman remains begin from AD40--55 and show the development of the site from the first to the fourth centuries, as the area increased in wealth before the occupation phase ended to be replaced with a cemetery. Includes specialist reports on soil microstratigraphy, stone and ceramic building materials, Roman pottery, Roman wall plaster, accessioned finds, animal bone, plant remains, and human bone. Also includes French and German summaries.

Integrated report taking account of all strands of evidence for the development of the abbey of St Mary Stratford Langthorne, Essex, which was founded as a Savigniac house in 1135 and incorporated into the Cistercian Order in 1147; it was suppressed in 1538. Excavations on the site took place between 1973 and 1994. The report is presented in a series of period chapters. Little evidence was found for the monastery's origins, apart from a few very early burials, but it appears that it was established within a pre-existing field system. Limited archaeological evidence for pre-monastic timber buildings was found, and there are documentary indications of a late Saxon/early Norman manorial centre and associated church in the vicinity. The earliest monastic church identified was a simple, aisleless, cruciform structure of the mid-twelfth century. This was partially rebuilt and extended on at least two occasions, the last archaeologically defined building, dated to after c.1220, showing clear relaxation of early Cistercian austerity. To the east of the east claustral range a complex series of truncated footings illustrate parts of the great drain and the monks' infirmary/abbot's lodging area. After c.1350 there is some evidence of a dramatic decline the monastic population and the stagnation of the abbey's architectural development. Of the buildings of the inner and outer courts only one, a guesthouse, has been archaeologically identified with any certainty. A number of thematic essays address research aims, such as the plan of the precinct; the architecture and decoration of the monastery; the people of the monastery; burial customs and cemetery usage. There was a total burial population of 647 individuals, whose remains are analysed and interpreted. The issue of identifying the various elements of the precinct's population is also addressed, as is the conflicting evidence relating to medical care. The skeletal and other evidence is considered in the light of Cistercian and other medieval cemetery sites and known Cistercian legislation. A chapter on the monastery in its wider context looks at issues such as the degree to which St Mary Stratford was affected by its proximity to London, its role within the Cistercian order, evidence for the basis of the monastic economy, and a comparison of the finds assemblage with those of other religious houses. The effects of the Dissolution are discussed, and a critical look is taken at the research aims of the project, with suggested areas for future research. Includes French and German summaries. Separately authored reports include

Presents the results of work from five separate developer-funded excavations between 1992--8. Bronze Age field ditches were sealed by domestic buildings relating to the expansion of early Roman London after AD 70, contemporary with the timber amphitheatre located nearby beneath the Guildhall. The masonry fort was built in the early-second century AD and there was no evidence of a long-suspected predecessor. The fort's buildings seem to have gone out of use around the end of the second century AD and its southern defensive ditch was backfilled. Extensive reoccupation came with the establishment of burgage plots after AD 1050. Twelfth-century development included buildings with cellars and evidence of bone- and metalworking. Birds of prey and high-quality pottery and glass imply the presence of a high-status person or property in the thirteenth century, but little survives from after this time. Includes specialist reports on building material; Roman, medieval and post-medieval pottery; x-ray fluorescence analysis of crucibles and other industrial waste; non-ceramic finds (including coins); glass; botanical remains; and animal bone. Also includes a glossary of Roman military terms, and French and German summaries.