Contents Minster

Bristol and Region Archaeological Services Excavations at MINSTER HOUSE, BRISTOL, 1992 John Bryant, June 2016 BRSMG 17/1992 BaRAS Archaeological Excavation at the site of MINSTER HOUSE, BRISTOL. Centred on NGR ST 58302 72668 Prepared for Bristol Cathedral BaRAS St Nicholas Church, St Nicholas Street, Bristol, BS1 1UE. Tel: (0117) 903 9010 email: info@baras.org.uk www.baras.org.uk Author: John Bryant Approved by: Ian Greig Date Issued: June 2016 CONTENTS List of Illustrations 1. Introduction and Acknowledgements…………………………………………………... 1 2. Minster House - Documentary and Contemporary Visual Sources………………… 3 3. The Excavation - Period Descriptions…..……………………………………………... 12 4. Conclusions………………….…………………………………………………………… 55 5. The Finds……………….………………………………………………………............... 59 1. Pottery 59 2. Chinese Porcelain 68 3. Ceramic Roof Tile 71 4. Roofing Slate 73 5. Stone Roof Tile 74 6. Inscribed Slate 74 7. Floor Tile 75 8. Brick and Tile Kiln Flooring 77 9. Clay Tobacco Pipes 78 10. Animal Bone 81 11. Objects of Bone 92 12. Molluscs 93 13. Objects of Copper Alloy 94 14. Objects of Iron 96 15. Objects of Lead 97 16. Vessel Glass 97 17. Bell Founding 98 18. Coins and Tokens 99 19. Miscellaneous Objects 102 20. Worked Stone 103 6. Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………….. 105 Appendix 1: Extract from the Parliamentary Survey of 1649 Appendix 2: John Taylor’s letter to the Athenæum, reproduced in the Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, Monday May 15th and Saturday May 20th, 1882 Appendix 3: Minster House Context Descriptions Abbreviations AD Anno Domini BRO Bristol Record Office aOD Above Ordnance Datum c Circa BaRAS Bristol & Region Archaeological Services C Century BC Before Christ CIfA Chartered Institute for Archaeologists BCC Bristol City Council EH English Heritage BCL Bristol Central Library HEA Historic England Archive BH Borehole Km Kilometre BHER Bristol Historic Environment Record m Metre BL British Library mm Millimetres BMAG Bristol Museum & Art Gallery NGR National Grid Reference BPT Bristol Pottery Type Series OS Ordnance Survey BRFT Bristol Rooftile Fabric Type Series S.F. Stone Feature Adopted Chronology Prehistoric Before AD43 Roman AD43-410 Anglo Saxon/Early Medieval AD410-1066 Medieval AD1066-1540 Post-medieval AD1540-present NOTE Notwithstanding that Bristol and Region Archaeological Services have taken reasonable care to produce a comprehensive summary of the known and recorded archaeological evidence, no responsibility can be accepted for any omissions of fact or opinion, however caused. June 2016 COPYRIGHT NOTICE:- Bristol and Region Archaeological Services retain copyright of this report under the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, and have granted a licence to Bristol Cathedral and their agents to use and reproduce the material contained within, once settlement of our account has been received. Plans reproduced from the Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office © Crown copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Bristol City Council, Licence Number LA090551, 2016. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figures Fig. 1 Location of the excavation and places mentioned in the text, scale 1:5000 Fig. 2 The excavation site in relation to the modern buildings, scale 1:1000 Fig. 3 The west end of the Abbey precinct and other buildings mentioned in the text (after Paul 1912) Fig. 4 Millerd’s map of 1673 (detail) Fig. 5 Ashmead’s city survey of 1854 (detail) Fig. 6 Ground plan of the Minster House by Roland Paul, late 19th century Fig. 7 Doorway in west cloister wall by Roland Paul Fig. 8 Extract from the 1883 Ordnance Survey plan (scale 1:500) Fig. 9 Abbey Gatehouse and Minster House, Eyre c 1776 (BRSMG M.940) Fig. 10 Minster House from the west, before alteration, O’Neill, 1821 (BRSMG M.1750 Fig. 11 Minster House after alteration, O’Neill 1823 (BRSMG M.1751) Fig. 12 Saunders’ view of Minster House’ south front, c 1822 (BRSMG M.1752) Fig. 13 Minster House viewed from the cloister, O’Neill 1821 (BRSMG M.1893) Fig. 14 Minster House from the west, Pryce c 1851 Fig. 15 Photograph of Minster House from the south-west, probably in 1867 (BRSMG R394.A.2) Fig. 16 Photograph of the truncated Minster House, from College Green, probably in 1881 Fig. 17 Parkman’s undated painting of the interior of the first floor hall, looking west Figs. 18-25 Phase plans Fig. 26 West-east profile of the cellarium area, after excavation Fig. 27 North-south profile of the cellarium area, after excavation Fig. 28 North-south profile west of the cellarium, after excavation Fig. 29 Elevation of the north face of walls 5 & 33, i.e. south wall of passage Fig. 30 Elevation of cellarium west wall and section through drains 23 & 37 Fig. 31 Long (east-west) section through pit 147 Fig. 32 North-south section at west end of garden, including remains of wall 16 Fig. 33 Sections through the bell-casting furnace base, stone feature 83 Fig. 34 Medieval doorway in cloister west wall: east-facing elevation Fig. 35 East-facing elevations of walls 30, 32,31 & 52 Fig. 36 East-west section through buildings 2 & 5 and room 6 Fig. 37 South-facing elevation of wall 28 and section through gully 46 Fig. 38 North wall of passage (south-facing elevations of walls 4 and 6-8) Fig. 39 East-facing elevation of wall 14 (west wall of Minster House) Fig. 40 Suggested possible layout of Minster House after the 1860s truncation Fig. 41 Pottery, Periods 1 & 2 Fig. 42 Pottery, Period 3 Fig. 43 Pottery, Period 4a Fig. 44 Pottery, Period 4b Fig. 45 Pottery, Period 5a Fig. 46 Pottery, Period 5a (contd) Fig. 47 Pottery, Period 5b Fig. 48 Pottery, Period 5b (contd) Fig. 49 Pottery, Period 6 Fig. 50 Chinese porcelain Fig. 51 Ceramic roof tile Fig. 52 Inscribed slates Fig. 53 Inscribed slates (contd) Fig. 54 Medieval floor tile Fig. 55 Brick Fig. 56 Clay tobacco pipe Fig. 57 Objects of bone Fig. 58 Objects of copper alloy Fig. 59 Objects of glass Fig. 60 Miscellaneous objects Fig. 61 Architectural stone Fig. 62 Architectural stone (contd) Plates Cover Parkman’s painting of the interior of the first floor hall Plate 1 The site in context, seen from the west before excavation commenced Plate 2 View of the west end early in the excavation, seen from the cathedral south-west tower Plate 3 Excavation well advanced, looking east from the Central Library Plate 4 West and central areas of the excavation, seen from cathedral tower Plate 5 View looking north from the Cathedral School, buildings 2 and 5 in the foreground Plate 6 Eastern area of excavation, seen from the cathedral tower, looking south Plate 7 South elevation of wall 26, with remains of wall 48 underneath Plate 8 West-facing elevation of west cellarium wall, showing the footings Plate 9 Floor 3, looking west Plate 10 Period 2 drains, looking north, with walls 11 and 12 beyond Plate 11 Drain 32, emptied of fill, looking south-west Plate 12 Drain 31 part-demolished, showing floor of reused roof tiles Plate 13 Pit 147 in the early stages of excavation, looking north Plate 14 Pit 147 after excavation, looking west, showing the furnace base Plate 15 Stone feature 83 (furnace base) in pit 147, looking north Plate 16 Stone feature 83 (furnace base) in pit 147, looking east from above Plate 17 Bell mould remains in the fill of pit 147 (1m scale) Plate 18 Gullies 51 & 59 and stone feature 80, with wall 31 beyond Plate 19 Corner of wall 30, showing stone feature 86 Plate 20 Drain 20, looking south, showing stones reused as the roof Plate 21 Minster House looking eastwards, showing the underfloor ventilation system outside of wall 14 1. INTRODUCTION An archaeological excavation on the site of the former Minster House at Bristol Cathedral was completed between April and July 1992 (Plates 1 - 6). It was proposed by the Dean and Chapter to construct a new Cathedral visitor centre with paved forecourt on the site (Planning applications 90/03032/F & 90/03033/L). Initially, a small archaeological evaluation trench was dug immediately north of the access road to the cloister in 1991, and the positive results of that investigation prompted the more extensive excavation. Both projects were carried out by the Field Archaeology unit of the Bristol City Museums and Art Gallery, now known as Bristol and Region Archaeological Services (BaRAS), under the direction of Eric Boore. Follow-up observations took place in 1992 and 1993 during construction of the visitor centre foundations and paving of the area west of the Cathedral. Bristol Cathedral is located in the south-west part of the central area of the city, on the southern edge of the slight knoll that is commonly known as College Green. It sits on a gently sloping site immediately above a short, but steeper, drop to the south that leads to Canons Marsh, formerly the hay meadows of St. Augustine’s Abbey, predecessor to the Cathedral. The Cathedral site overlooks the Floating Harbour, formerly the tidal River Avon. Geologically, the site consists of Mercia Mudstone, of the Permo-Triassic, above Quartzitic Sandstone (Brandon Hill Grit) of the Upper Carboniferous. The 1992 excavation occupied an area of approximately 625 square metres, situated between the west side of the cloister and the eastern edge of College Square, along the whole of the north side of the cloister access road. Excavation was carried right up to the south and west walls of the south-west tower of the Cathedral, but stopped short of the restored 15th/16th century Abbey Gatehouse. The site was centred on point NGR ST 58302 72668. Prior to excavation most of the site lay around 17.00m OD, the eastern part against the cloister being lower at 16.20m OD.

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