Glebe House, Abbey Foregate Shrewsbury Shropshire Publication report for the Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society for Morris Property Ltd. CA Project: 9199 CA Report: 17149 March 2017 © Cotswold Archaeology Glebe House, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury: Publication Report Glebe House, Abbey Foregate Shrewsbury Shropshire Publication report for the Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society CA Project: 9199 CA Report: 17149 Document Control Grid Revision Date Author Checked by Status Reasons for Approved revision by A 3 October 2016 Sarah MAW Internal QA MAW Cobain review Final 09 March 2017 Sarah MAW Internal QA MAW version Cobain review This report is confidential to the client. Cotswold Archaeology accepts no responsibility or liability to any third party to whom this report, or any part of it, is made known. Any such party relies upon this report entirely at their own risk. No part of this report may be reproduced by any means without permission. © Cotswold Archaeology 1 © Cotswold Archaeology Glebe House, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury: Publication Report Medieval and post-medieval occupation at Glebe House, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, 2015: Summary Report By Peter Boyer and Sarah Cobain An archaeological excavation was undertaken in April to May 2015 at Glebe House, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The excavation identified four broad phases of activity between the eleventh and twentieth centuries AD. Although residual Late Saxon material was recovered, the earliest phase of activity (Period 1: medieval) was associated with a ditched trackway at the south of the site with extensive quarry features to the north and dated to the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. Period 2 (later medieval activity) saw extensive pitting activity towards the eastern edge of the site, possibly associated with domestic occupation further east, and dated to the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. Period 3 (post-medieval activity) comprised pitting which continued through the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries and still appeared to be associated with domestic activity, though a large boundary ditch was also established sometime during this period. This post-medieval activity also saw the construction of a small number of likely timber structures on the site. Period 4 features dated from the later eighteenth into the twentieth centuries and included further pit digging but also more extensive structural development with the foundations of some buildings and a brick culvert surviving towards the south of the site. A moderate assemblage of pottery was recovered dating from the medieval to early modern periods, comprising medieval cooking pots, pitchers and jugs alongside a small number of floor tile fragments. Other finds include iron nails/nail fragments, a rectangular container which may have been used to store needles, a small quantity of clay tobacco pipe and fragments of wine/spirits bottle glass. Introduction In April and May 2015, Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological investigation at the request of Morris Property Limited, at Glebe House, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, Shropshire 2 © Cotswold Archaeology Glebe House, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury: Publication Report (centred on NGR: SJ 4980 1259; Fig. 1). The excavation was carried out in accordance with standard CA excavation and recording practices, and monitored by Shropshire Council. The development site was approximately 1.1ha, located to the east of Shrewsbury town centre and the River Severn, approximately 50m north of Abbey Foregate, which lies immediately to the north of the remains of the medieval Shrewsbury Abbey. Archaeological work focussed on areas of moderate and high archaeological potential in the eastern part of the site, as outlined in the development’s Heritage Impact Assessment (Morriss 2013). The work initially entailed a trial trench evaluation (CA 2014), which revealed areas of pits and structural remains. This was followed by a more extensive excavation of 0.2ha in the south-east of the development site. A detailed record of the excavation, including full specialist finds and biological evidence reports, is contained within a typescript report (CA 2016, report no. 16212) available online via the Cotswold Archaeology website (http://reports.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/). This paper represents a summary of that report. Results Geological deposits encountered during excavation comprised yellow-brown sandy gravel, representing river terrace deposits. The surface of the terrace sloped downwards towards the south- west, and the western part of the site was overlain by up to 1.4m of firm, yellow-brown fine clayey silt alluvium, most likely laid down as a flood deposit by a channel of the Severn. Period 1: Medieval (eleventh to thirteenth century) (Fig. 2) Although residual early medieval pottery was recovered from ditch 6184, the earliest phase of activity on the site commenced after the Norman Conquest and extended into the thirteenth century. This period was characterised towards the south of the site by two broadly parallel, east/west-aligned ditches (6052 and 6184/6102) which were 2.5–3m apart and could be traced for at least 17m. Ditch 6184/6102 produced a small amount of thirteenth-century pottery, a lead-alloy object and a small 3 © Cotswold Archaeology Glebe House, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury: Publication Report quantity of animal bone. Other features dating to this period included quarry pits 6073, 6207, 6171 and well 6079 to the north, and quarry pit 6174 towards the south-east of the site. These contained small amounts of pottery dating to the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. In addition, well 6079 contained a small rectangular iron container, thought to have been used to store needles. Although the trackway and quarry pits suggest activities some distance from areas of occupation, the construction of a well towards the end of this phase indicates that by this time there was some domestic settlement nearby. Period 2: Later medieval (thirteenth to fifteenth century) (Fig. 2) There was a continuation of activity into the later medieval period, which has been assigned a broad thirteenth to fifteenth-century date. Evidence for late medieval activity was generally found towards the eastern edge of the site, where there had been less truncation during later periods of occupation, and included waste pits 4021, 4029, 6146 and 6154, cess pits 4006 and 4014, and well 4017. Cess pits 4006 and 4014 contained organic deposits interpreted as possible human waste, alongside assemblages of twelfth to fifteenth-century pottery in the upper backfill deposits. Well 4017 measured at least 1.3m deep, with evidence of a heavily decayed timber lining, and was filled with a clayey silt deposit containing a small assemblage of thirteenth to fourteenth-century pottery alongside a quantity of animal bone. Towards the west was compacted stony material 2011 and 2017, possibly remnants of a former metalled surface, and pit 6049, which contained a small assemblage of floor tile and pottery alongside three iron nails. To the north-west of pit 6049 was tree-throw pit 6110 which contained a small amount of fourteenth to fifteenth-century pottery. Period 3: Post-medieval (sixteenth to mid- eighteenth century) (Fig. 2) There was a continuity of activity from the later medieval into the earlier post-medieval period within a broad period covering the sixteenth to the mid-eighteenth century. Towards the east of the site there was intensification of pitting activity. Waste pits 4009, 6190, 6182 and 6170 and quarry pit 6101 all contained pottery dating between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, with other finds including, bottle glass and clay tobacco-pipe fragments and a small amount of animal bone. A number of other 4 © Cotswold Archaeology Glebe House, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury: Publication Report artefactually undated pits were identified in this area, but have been phased as post-medieval based on their form and fill consistency. Towards the north of the area, postholes 6113, 6114, 6119, 6130 and 6143 were recorded. Postholes 6113, 6119 and 6130 formed an approximate north/south alignment suggesting a possible fence line. Posthole 6113 contained a clay tobacco-pipe bowl dated to the late seventeenth or eighteenth centuries. Extending westwards from the eastern area was ditch/ditch recut 6121/6123. Although a boundary ditch appears in this location on the 1912 Ordnance Survey map, excavation of ditch recut 6123 revealed a sherd of seventeenth-century pottery suggesting a post-medieval date for the feature. To the north of the ditch, large quarry pit 6088 partly truncated Period 1 quarry pit 6073 and had itself been truncated by oval pit 6063, which contained a small finds assemblage suggesting a late seventeenth to early eighteenth -century date. To the south of ditch/ditch recut 6121/6123 was pit 6219, which was 1.42m in diameter and lined with clay, within which survived the base of a barrel (Fig. 3). The basal fill of the barrel was a lime deposit, suggesting the feature was associated with the leather tanning industry. A small number of postholes were scattered across the south of the site, but their function is uncertain. Period 4: Later post-medieval to early modern (mid-eighteenth to mid-nineteenth century) (Fig. 2) Activity continued and intensified on the site from the second half of the eighteenth century through to the mid- nineteenth century. At the western edge of the excavation area, north-east/south-west-