Summary

In the mid 12th century documentary sources suggest that building work on St. Mary's Priory stopped for a time and the unfinished cathedral church was fortified and used as a seige castle. Excavation of St. Mary's Cathedral in 1999-2000 recorded a ditch running north to south from the cloister, underneath the north wall and pier 2 of the cathedral nave before turning eastwards. Finds from the ditch fill date the it no earlier than the mid 12th century and the fill itself indicates that the ditch was not open for long. This has been interpreted as a ditch that was dug to fortify the partially built cathedral and priory by Robert Marmion II, an event for which near contemporary documents exist.

Monument Type(s):

• CASTLE (Earlier Medieval - 1143 AD to 1143 AD)
• SIEGE CASTLE (Earlier Medieval - 1143 AD to 1143 AD)

Protected Status

• Conservation Area: Hill Top Conservation Area

Full description

1> In 1144 the Earl of Tamworth, Robert Marmion II laid seige to Coventry Castle, apparently also kicking out the Benedictine community in order to fortify the unfinished Cathedral church, for which good excavated evidence survives and an act for which he received considerable condemnation. [See p.42 of "Coventy - The Hidden History" for documentary refs.] In 2000, excavations by Northamptonshire Archaeology on the site of the nave of St. Mary's Cathedral uncovered a large ditch cut north-south beneath the western portion of the nave. It ran north under the north aisle (including one of the aisle piers and the north wall of the church around the west claustral range) while to the south it turned eastwards up the nave. Although the terracing which characterised the Romanesque Cathedral's nave had truncated much of this ditch, it nevertheless survived for a distance of over 10m (33ft) at 7.5m (24 ft) wide and steeply sided to almost 1.6m (5ft 3 in) deep. Dug through the natural clay into the sandstone bedrock beneath, the ditch was short-lived, being devoid of silting, and was rapidly backfilled in the mid-twelth century, containing only a few finds. Against a background of the stories of twelth and thirteenth-century commentators, it seems likely that this ditch belongs to the siegeworks of Robert Marmion when he fortified the as yet incomplete Priory and Cathedral Church in 1144.
2> Building work was halted in the mid 12th century when the [priory] site was fortified and used as part of a seige work…
3> The Fortification of the Priory (1143): In bays 2 and 3 of the north aisle and the nave [of St. Mary's Cathedral] lay a filled-in ditch which passed under the foundation of pier 2 and under the north wall of the cathedral. This very substantial ditch had been truncated during the terracing of the site for the cathedral and was thus much reduced at its southern end. Here it appeared to have turned eastwards. However, below the north aisle where the original ground level was less reduced by terracing, the ditch was substantially less affected and a cut section showed it to have survived to a depth of 1.58m and being up to 7.5m wide. It had been cut through natural clay, deep into the sandstone bedrock and was traced a further 5m northwards outside the west cloister range where it was found to be a similar depth. Terracing for the priory buildings may have also reduced the ground level here so the ditch could have been substantially deeper. Well stratified pottery was recovered from deep within the ditch fills and comprised unglazed Coventry wares of the 12th century…The ditch also contained human bone. The lack of silt in the bottom of the ditch suggests that the feature was not open for a long period of time…The composition of the fills suggests that it was back-filled with re-deposited, contaminated natural material, not occupation debris. It is not inconceivable that this material represents the original up-cast thrown back in, perhaps an accompanying bank pushed over…Its short life span and spatial relationship to the partially complete Romanesque cathedral [see MCT16304] indicate that it is more likely to be part of the siege works set up by Robert Marmion II in 1143, fortifying the priory in an unsuccessful attempt to capture Coventry Castle…The material in its backfill, dating to the period after 1150, indicates that the western end of the Romanesque north arcade post-dates this.

<1> Soden, Iain, 2005, Coventry: The Hidden History, 42, 46 (TEXT). SCT1116.

<3> Coventry City Council, 2003, The Archaeology of the Medieval Cathedral and Priory of St Mary, Coventry, 137 (--MONOGRAPH). SCT1279.

<4> Demidowicz G, 1999-2002, Phoenix Initiative Photographic Record of Excavations (-PHOTOGRAPH). SCT1419.

Sources and Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• ECT115 - Excavation of Cathedral Church of St. Mary, Coventry (Ref: COVE44)

Related records

Images

Excavation of a possible 12th century siege castle ditch, Priory Gardens © Coventry City Council

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