Monument Type(s):

• BURH? (Late Saxon - 800 AD to 1066 AD)
• DITCH (Late Saxon to Post Medieval - 800 AD to 1901 AD)
• CASTLE? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

A large E-W ditch, c4m wide and 3m deep, uncovered in 1991 (ESA5462). Backfilled in one operation - no natural silting or infilling with rubbish. It was either a ditch separating the inner & outer baileys of the 12th century castle or a ditch related to the 10th century burh.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA5462 - 1991 evaluation of St Mary's Rectory, Bridgnorth by Gifford & Partners Ltd (Ref: Giffords 6011)
• ESA7801 - 2000 excavations at Bridgnorth Castle and in East Castle Street by Time Team

Description

Prior to construction of a new parish centre in the grounds of St. Mary's Rectory, High Town. Site currently (1991) a garden 50m N. of castle ruins and adjacent to St. Mary's Church. Large E-W ditch uncovered, c4m wide and 3m deep. Backfilled in one operation - no natural silting or infilling with rubbish. Either ditch separating inner & outer Baileys of 12th century castle or related to 10th century burh. Recut back to natural probably during mid 17th century when Royalists held the Keep - backfilled post Civil War. Full report includes plans and sections of ditch. <1><1a>

CMHTS Record Sheet <2>

CMHTS Report <3>

Resistance survey was carried out to the south of the Rectory by GSB as part of Time Team investigation of Bridgnorth Castle in 2000. The aim of this area of survey was to locate any evidence of an inner bailey ditch at the southern limits of the property. The results were inconclusive and it was impossible to determine whether the resistance readings actually reflected a broad ditch here. <4>

A trench was apparently excavated here by Time Team (trench location given in <4>). However no full report has ever been produced for the excavation so nothing is known of the results; however, pers. comm. with Clive Gwilt suggests that no conclusive evidence of a ditch here was identified. <5>

<01> Gifford and Partners Ltd, 1991, St Mary's Rectory (Article in serial). SSA12029.

<01a> Thompson A & Walker W S, 1991, The archaeological implications of the construction of a new parish centre at St Mary's Rectory, Bridgnorth (Field survey report). SSA12047.

<02> Buteux Victoria, 1993/ 1996, CMHTS SMR Records Shropshire: Bridgnorth, Bridgnorth 5627 (Record form). SSA19965.

<03> Buteux Victoria et al, 1996, Archaeological Assessment of Bridgnorth, Shropshire (CMHTS) (Historic landscape survey report). SSA12066.

<04> Gater J & Gaffney C, 2000, Gephysical Survey report: Bridgnorth, p.2 (Geophysical survey report). SSA22865.

<05> Carey Giles, 2014 onwards, Comments by Giles Carey, HER compiler in HER database, 18/03/2016 (SMR comment). SSA26784.

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.