The Archaeology of the Upper City and Adjacent Suburbs LINCOLN ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES NO
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The Archaeology of The Upper City and Adjacent Suburbs Upper City and Adjacent of The Archaeology The LINCOLN ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES NO. 3 The Archaeology of The Upper City and Adjacent Suburbs Lincoln Archaeological Studies Series Editors: Michael J. Jones and Alan Vince No. 1 No. 6 Pre-Viking Lindsey A Corpus of Roman Pottery from Lincoln No. 2 No. 7 The Archaeology of Wigford A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon and the Brayford Pool and Medieval Pottery from Lincoln No. 3 No. 8 The Archaeology of The Upper City A Corpus of Roman Glass and Adjacent Suburbs from Lincoln No. 4 No. 9 The Archaeology of The Lower City Finds from the Well and Adjacent Suburbs at St Paul-in-the-Bail No. 5 No. 10 Steane Of Butchers and Breeds The City by the Pool Kate Steane with Margaret J. Darling, Michael J. Jones, Jenny Mann, Alan Vince and Jane Young Oxbow Books i LINCOLN ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES NO. 3 GENERAL EDITORS: MICHAEL J. JONES AND ALAN VINCE The Archaeology of the Upper City and Adjacent Suburbs Kate Steane with Margaret J. Darling, Michael J. Jones, Jenny Mann, Alan Vince and Jane Young Oxbow Books Published by Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK © Kate Steane, Margaret J. Darling, Michael J. Jones, Jenny Mann, Alan Vince and Jane Young 2006 ISBN 978-1-84217-065-6 A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library This book is published with the aid of a grant from English Heritage. English Heritage is now Historic England This book is available to download from http://books.casematepublishing.com/ The_Archaeology_of_The_Upper_City_and_Adjacent_Suburbs_Lincoln.pdf Contents List of Contributors .................................................................................................................iv Preface and Acknowledgements, by M J Jones......................................................................v Summaries: English, French...................................................................................................vii 1 Introduction by K Steane and A Vince.......................................................................................... 1 THE EXCAVATIONS 2 Lincoln Cathedral Sites (cat86, ch83, dg83, lc84, ny87) ..................................................11 3 Cecil Street (ce75) ..............................................................................................................43 4 Chapel Lane (cl85) .............................................................................................................47 5 East Bight (eb80) ................................................................................................................61 6 The Lawn (l86, la85, lh84) ................................................................................................81 7 Mint Wall (mw79) ............................................................................................................113 8 Mint Wall Stables (mws83 and sp84) ............................................................................121 9 St Paul-in-the-Bail (sp72) ..............................................................................................129 10 Westgate School (w73) ....................................................................................................212 11 West Bight (wb76) ............................................................................................................228 12 West Bight (wb80) ...........................................................................................................234 13 Winnowsty Cottages (wc87) .......................................................................................255 14 Discussion by K Steane, M J Jones, and A Vince with contributions by M J Darling and J Young..............................................................267 APPENDICES I: The Archiving and Analysis Projects by A Vince and K Steane ...................................288 II: Roman pottery codes ....................................................................................................298 III: Post Roman pottery codes ...........................................................................................300 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................305 INDEX .......................................................................................................................................309 List of contributors City of Lincoln Archaeology Unit staff (1991–6) Jeremy Ashbee: Architectural and Sculptural Fragments Prince Chitwood: Stratigraphical Reports Jane Cowgill: Non-ceramic Artefacts Margaret J. Darling: Roman Pottery C. Pamela Graves: Architectural and Sculptural Fragments Christopher Guy: Stratigraphical Reports Michael J. Jones: Joint General Editor; Academic and Copy Editing; Discussion Richard Kemp: Building Materials Jen Mann: Non-ceramic Artefacts Paul Miles: Stratigraphical Reports; computer support Barbara Precious: Roman Pottery Kate Steane: Site Reports (general co-ordination); Introduction, Discussion and Appendix I Alan Vince: Joint General Editor; Introduction, Discussion and Appendix I Jane Young: Post-Roman Pottery Integrated Contributions and Archive Reports by: Petra Adams and Julian Henderson (Medieval and later vessel glass) Marion Archibald (Medieval and later coins and tokens) Joanna Bird (Samian pottery) Mark Blackburn (Anglo-Saxon coins) Lucy Bown and Judy O’Neill (also contributed to the work on the Post-Roman pottery) Anthea Boylston and Charlotte Roberts (human remains) Hilary Cool, Jenny Price and Sally Cottam (Roman glass) John Davies (Roman coins) Brenda Dickinson (Samian stamps) Keith Dobney, Debbie Jaques, (animal and fish bones) Brian Irving, Annie Milles and Sally Scott Rowena Gale and Carole Morris (wood) Katherine Hartley (mortaria stamps) David King (Medieval decorated window glass) Don Mackreth (Roman brooches) Lisa Moffett (environmental samples) David Moore (hones – petrology) Quita Mould (leather objects) David Peacock and David Williams (amphorae and marble petrology) James Rackham (animal bones) Fiona Roe (stone objects) David Stocker (architectural and sculptural fragments) Penelope Walton Rogers (textiles) Radio carbon dates were provided by the Harwell Low Level Measurements Laboratory through the good offices of English Heritage’s Ancient Monuments Laboratory. Illustrations by Paul Miles, Helen Palmer-Brown, Zoe Rawlings and David Watt Preface and Acknowledgements The Upper City at Lincoln was the first area of the explored as part of a wider study of the aqueduct town to be defined by fortifications – first for the (Jones M J 1980, 17–9; Wood 1981). timber Roman legionary fortress and later, in stone, It is notable that, as elsewhere, interest was for the succeeding colonia. For over 300 years, the formerly confined to the Roman period. This principal administrative buildings for their suc- changed from the early 1970s with the establishment cessive establishments lay within this circuit. The of a professional archaeological field unit. The excav- centre of power also had a religious dimension, the ations at Westgate School (w73) and at St Paul-in- Christian cathedral replacing the pagan state temple the-Bail (1972–9; sp72) concerned themselves with from possibly as early as the 4th century. The see the full sequence of archaeological deposits up to was based here intermittently during the Anglo- the modern period. The form of presentation in this Saxon period, and continuously from 1072, rep- volume, dealing with sites investigated in the period resenting the centre of the diocese. In the form of the 1972–87, gives due prominence to the complete strat- castle and cathedral, the town is still dominated igraphic sequence, organised into context groups physically by the twin symbols of English medieval (cgs) and Land Use Blocks (LUBs), as also set out in authority. The surrounding streets always contained the report dealing with the Wigford suburb (Steane the greatest concentration of prestigious buildings et al 2001) see Appendix 1 and the Introduction, in the city, but the area was not without its setbacks: below, regarding the systems adopted). battles in 1141 and 1216/7 and again during the The sites reported on here included large-scale Civil War caused considerable physical damage. excavations which yielded some stunning finds, Given such a history, it is not surprising that the none more so than those at St Paul-in-the-Bail. This Upper City still preserves many ancient features. contained remains of the Roman legionary head- Remains of Roman and medieval date have been quarters building, followed by the civic forum, and noted by antiquarians for several centuries, and a series of church buildings dating back possibly to monuments such as the Bailgate Roman colonnade the end of the Roman period. The results of the less carefully recorded. Today, much of that heritage, substantial investigations have helped us under- above and below ground, is protected by legislation, stand better the larger sites and certainly contribute and current policies should help to conserve the to the study of the area as a whole in terms of historic fabric, while deterring investigation of topography and function, among other aspects. buried deposits and thereby preserving them for The data recovered have provided important new future generations. But there have been substantial knowledge on the Roman military occupation, inside discoveries over the past century or so, and par- and outside the walls, and not only