Monument record MDO18155 - Greyhound Yard, central burgage plot

The central plot of a series of medieval burgages running south from Durngate Street exposed during the 1984 excavations at Greyhound Yard. The west, east and south sides were defined by ditches and the north side lay beyond the excavated area. During the medieval period the west boundary shifted westwards several metres, possibly when Building 753 was inserted into this plot. Within the curtilage was a series of pits, most probably chalk quarries dating from the late 12th to the 14th century.

Found during the excavations carried out by Wessex Archaeology in 1984 prior to the redevelopment of the area of the former Greyhound Yard. (1) The results of the excavation were published together with the results of the adjacent Old Methodist Chapel excavations. (2) The numbers in square brackets below are context and feature numbers used in the published report (2). One of a series of burgage plots running back from Durngate Street exposed at Greyhound Yard. The west side was defined by a ditch [1427/3365] and the east side by another ditch [1323], which were parallel and ran roughly north-south. The southern end was defined by a ditch [5520] which formed the back boundary to the burgage plots, dividing them from the arable land of ‘Estwalles’ to the south. The northern limit lay beyond the excavated area. At some stage during the medieval period, the western boundary shifted westwards by several metres, presumably to accommodate the construction of house [753] within this burgage plot. A small number of pits were found, all in the northern half of this burgage plot. Pit [1277] was a relatively isolated pit in the northern end. It was circular measuring about 2.5m across and about 1.6m deep with undercut sides and a flat base. It was filled with dark soils containing pottery dated to the late 12th or early 13th century. To the south of this pit was a small cluster of pits [1386, 1388, 5402] disturbed by later activity and not fully excavated. These were similar to the chalk quarry pits found in the west burgage plot and were beneath the area of building [753]. On the eastern side of the plot were two pits [2166, 2124], both small shallow rounded or sub-rectangular features filled with dark soils. They were sealed beneath the soils under the medieval building 753. During the medieval period a rectangular stone building [753] was built across the centre of this burgage plot.

Record last edited

May 2 2012 3:59AM