URBANISATION AND THE URBAN LANDSCAPE: BUILDING MEDIEVAL BURY ST EDMUNDS ABBY L. ANTROBUS VOLUME 1 Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Archaeology, University of Durham 2009 ABSTRACT Urbanisation and Urban Landscape: Building Medieval Bury St Edmunds. Abby L. Antrobus Bury St Edmunds (Suffolk) was a great Western European pilgrimage and commercial centre. Primarily, this thesis presents the first synthesis of fragmentary topographical, archaeological, documentary and architectural evidence for the development of this under-publicised town, from its proto-urban origins to c.1220. It reveals: a likely Middle- Saxon enclosure; an hypothesised early suburb; a Late-Saxon settlement, church and assembly place; a nine-part grid of AD 1066-1086; 12th-century additions, including defences and the market place; and later 12th-century suburban development and reinvestment. Secondly, the thesis contributes to Medieval urban landscape studies by demonstrating that there is potential to engage with frameworks developed in Historical Archaeology that recognise towns as invested, negotiated and lived spaces. ‘Townscape’ is framed as an arena in which fortunes were made and contested by individuals and institutions. Rapid urbanisation across Europe was bound up with a commercial boom and the related widespread enfranchisement of urban communities, particularly marked in the later 12th-century. Jocelin of Brakelond’s Chronicle (1173-1202) reveals the powers of negotiation gained by the burgesses of Bury St Edmunds and here, the aspirations of the population are considered alongside the evolving landscape and building stock. Inspired by studies of Late-Medieval and Early-Modern towns, which demonstrate coincidences between the enclaves of urban elites and the most significant social, economic, political, religious and ritual places in mutable urban topographies, this thesis seeks evidence for the built environment in the formative High-Medieval period. Can patterns be evinced from the historical, archaeological and architectural record to reveal these developing topographies? In dialogue with the exercise of feudal lordship, did the community define themselves in the landscape? The interpretations drawn from fragmentary data are informed by recent work on the diversity of High-Medieval urban building form. What lined the streets of Bury St Edmunds? Where were the most significant buildings? i DECLARATION No part of this thesis has been submitted for a previous degree and no part has been previously published. I dedicate this thesis, as a token of love and deep gratitude, to Sue, Terry and Matt Antrobus. ii CONTENTS Abstract i Declaration ii List of Figures vi Abbreviations and terminology x Acknowledgements xi 1 Introduction: urbanisation and archaeology 1.1 Aims of the thesis 1 1.1.1 Aim 1: revealing a hidden history 2 1.1.2 Aim 2: understanding ‘urbanism in action’ 6 1.2 The High-Medieval urban phenomenon 7 1.2.1 Origins 8 1.2.2 Transition 9 1.3 Archaeological agendas: framing the ‘urban process’ 14 1.3.1 Urban archaeology in Britain 17 1.3.2 Research agendas 20 1.3.3 Urban morphology 23 1.4 Objectives and structure of the thesis 28 1.5 Conclusion 31 2 High-Medieval urban landscapes: an approach 2.1 Chapter introduction 33 2.2 Architecture and activity in the High-Medieval town 34 2.2.1 Recent work on urban architecture 36 2.2.2 Shops and shopping 41 2.3 Building fortunes 44 2.4 High-Medieval urban society 47 2.4.1 The Gild Merchant 50 2.5 Bury St Edmunds as a case-study 51 2.5.1 Economic background 52 2.5.2 Government and society 54 2.6 Urban societies and urban landscapes 62 2.6.1 Historical-Archaeological case-studies 66 2.6.2 Medieval social topographies 69 2.7 Conclusion 72 3 Sources for the study of Medieval Bury St Edmunds 3.1 Chapter introduction 75 3.2 Published studies 76 3.3 Map regression 79 3.4 Archaeological information 81 3.4.1 Heritage management in Bury St Edmunds 82 3.4.2 The archaeological dataset 84 3.5 Architectural evidence 86 3.5.1 Cellar survey 89 3.5.2 Corpus of buildings 92 3.6 Documentary evidence 93 3.6.1 Published sources 94 3.6.2 Manuscript sources 96 iii 3.7 Chapter conclusion 97 4 Beodericesworth and Sanctae Eadmundes Stowe (AD 650-1065) 4.1: Chapter introduction 99 4.2: Historiography – how urban was the early ‘town’? 100 4.3: Where was King Sigeberht’s monastery? 104 4.3.1 Was St Edmund moved to an existing church at Beodericesworth? 106 4.3.2 Antecedent landscapes 107 4.3.3 Middle-Saxon archaeology 110 4.4. Vikings 120 4.4.1 Beodericesworth in the Viking Age 121 4.4.2 The death of St Edmunds and the memorial coinage 126 4.5: The translation of St Edmund in the 10th-century 127 4.5.1 Boundaries of the banleuca 129 4.6: King Cnut 136 4.7: St Edmund’s Stowe in the reign of the Confessor 138 4.7.1 Relict manors? 142 4.8: Chapter conclusion 144 5 Villa de S. Edmund: a post-conquest remodelling 5.1: Chapter introduction 148 5.2: St Edmund’s Abbey at Domesday 149 5.3: 11th-century planned streets 153 5.3.1 Road surfaces on the Cathedral cloister site and under St James’s Tower 153 5.3.2 Proportional relationships 155 5.3.3 Distribution of pottery 159 5.3.4 Traditions in town planning 162 5.4: Early 12th-century changes to the Abbey and town 166 5.4.1 St Edmund’s Abbey 167 5.4.2 Monastic precinct 169 5.4.3 Market place 172 5.4.5 Town defences 174 5.5: The urban population at Domesday and beyond 181 5.5.1 Beyond Domesday: a belfry and houses in the town 184 5.5.2 Archaeological evidence for activity 190 5.5.3 Borough customs 193 5.6: Chapter conclusion 195 6 Bury St. Edmunds c.1150-c.1220 6.1: Chapter introduction 197 6.1.2 Business in Bury St Edmunds 198 6.2: Development of the surburbs 200 6.2.1 St Peter’s Hospital, Risbygate Street 202 6.2.2 St Saviour’s Hospital, Out Northgate 203 6.2.3 St Petronilla’s Hospital, Out Southgate 205 6.2.4 St Nicholas’ Hospital, Out Eastgate 205 6.2.5 Summary 207 6.3: Archaeological evidence for urban activities 208 6.3.1 Angel Hotel 209 6.3.2 Angel Lane 210 6.3.3 Churchgate Street 211 iv 6.3.4 High Baxter Street 212 6.3.5 Raingate Street 214 6.3.6 St Mary’s Square 214 6.3.7 Summary 214 6.4: Historical evidence for the built environment 215 6.4.1 Oven on Lower Baxter Street 215 6.4.2 A stone house and ‘rents’ on Abbeygate Street (then Frenchman’s Street) 216 6.4.3 Tofts, buildings, shops, booths and stalls in the market 219 6.4.4 Stone houses in the town 221 6.4.5 Commercial properties at the gates of the precinct 222 6.4.6 Summary 223 6.5: Architectural survivals 224 6.5.1 Moyse’s Hall 224 6.5.2 ‘The Norman House’, 79-80 Guildhall Street 231 6.5.3 Barrel vault beneath 7 Athenaeum Lane 233 6.5.4 12th-century roof trusses at 7-8 Hatter Street 239 6.5.5 Rear wall and fireplace at 25-6 Hatter Street 240 6.5.6 Stone feature at 21 Hatter Street 243 6.5.7 Stone feature at 87 Whiting Street 243 6.5.8 Corner of a flint-built building within 33-4 Churchgate Street 244 6.5.9 Stone wall within 16-18 Bridewell Lane 246 6.5.10 Wall and ‘window’ within 63 Whiting Street 247 6.5.11 Pastiche or original? The basement of 111 Northgate Street 248 6.5.12 Stonework in buildings in the Traverse: market encroachment? 250 6.5.13 3, Chequer Square 251 6.5.14 Summary 252 6.6: Synthesis 253 6.7: Conclusion 257 7 Discussion: urbanisation, landscape and society 7.1 Chapter introduction 258 7.2 Overview of the development of Bury St Edmunds 260 7.3 Social topography 262 7.4 Commercial 264 7.5 Sacred geometry 265 7.6 Processional topography 268 7.7 Political topography 271 7.8 Chapter conclusion 273 7.8.1 Limitations of the evidence 274 7.8.2 Future work 276 7.8.3 Concluding thoughts 276 Appendices Appendix 1 – Boundaries of the banleuca 278 Appendix 2 – Babwell Mill and fishpond 285 Bibliography 287 v FIGURES AND TABLES (VOLUME 2) Figures and tables are listed in order of their mention in the text, and in appearance in this volume. Unless otherwise referenced, illustrations and photographs are the work of the author. Cover Extract from R. Payne’s Map of Bury St Edmunds, 1823 (SROB). 1 Introduction: urbanisation and archaeology Figure 1.1 Modern map of Bury St Edmunds town centre (© Suffolk County Council) Figure 1.2a Location map showing Suffolk and Bury St Edmunds (reproduced with permission from OS data) Figure 1.2b The Eastern region, showing major settlements (based on OS outlines) Figure 1.2c Map of Suffolk, showing the resources of the hinterland of Bury (Martin 1999:21) Figure 1.2d The 8½ Hundreds of the Liberty of St Edmund (Gransden 2007: xxi) Figure 1.3a Illumination from John Lydgate’s 15th-century Metrical Lives of Ss. Edmund and Fremund showing the wolf guarding the King’s head (British Library, BM Harley 2278 f. 64r) Figure 1.3b Illumination from John Lydgate’s 15th-century Metrical Lives of Ss.