Monument Type(s):

• TOWN WALL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

This site represents: a town wall of medieval date.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA5849 - 2003-2004 excavations off St Julian's Friars by Marches Archaeology

Description

In trench 1 of the 2003-3004 Marches Archaeology excavations at St Julian's Friars, a substantial section of the medieval town wall was found. This was a significant find, as the exact location of the wall to the south of English Bridge had hitherto been unknown. The wall was running roughly north-south, was 1.4m thick and survived to a height of 2.9m. ->

-> When a deep box was excavated to c0.2m below the base of the wall on the riverwards side, it was seen that the wall was at this point constructed on alluvial mud which continued to accumulate after the wall was built. The basal course of the wall was formed from random blocky sandstone laid on a mat of smaller stones and was capped by a small projecting ledge. A similar course of random blocky sandstone lay above the ledge and was capped by a chamfered plinth formed from very precisely cut blocks projecting 0.25m from the main wall (a feature characteristic of Shrewsbury's medieval town wall). The plinth stones were covered by alluvial muds, from which 14th-15th century pottery was recovered. It seems that these mud layers accumulated quickly, hence the unworn condition of the protected plinth. Above the plinth, the outer eastern wall face was formed from rectangular cut sandstone ashlars. These were largely mauve but there were occasional greyish white blocks, probably from the Grinshill quarries. There was no mortar in the tightly fitting joints. ->

-> Attempts to excavate to the base of the wall on the western or inner face were frustrated by the extremely unstable nature of the running sands encountered. The lowest sand also contained pottery dating to the 14th or 15th centuries. The exposed portion of the inner face was irregular and formed from large roughly dressed mauve blocks. It seems likely that the portion exposed was not intended to be seen. Above the lower sands were more sands capped by a layer of pink clay containing rubble and mortar, which appeared to be a deliberate landfill of early post medieval date. ->

-> On the riverwards side of the town wall, the rapid build up of sediments in the 14th-15th centuries gave way to a slow accumulation of more humic alluvial silts in the early post medieval period. This culminated in a fairly stable ground surface by the early to mid 18th century. ->

-> It seems unlikely that this stretch of wall was ever intended to serve as a quayside. The base of the wall occurs at c47.3m OD, and the rising ground surface stabilised at c48.5m OD. Since current average river levels range between 47.2m OD and 47.45m OD, it is clear that no barge could have got alongside the wall in the medieval period unless the river bed has changed considerably since then <1>

NB There is a question mark over the accuracy of the location of this wall section - see comments in PRN 08549, 01497 <2>

<01> Tavener Nick, 2004, Land formerly belonging to Vincent Greenhous, St Julian's Friars, Shrewsbury: assessment report on archaeological fieldwork with an updated project proposal (Excavation report). SSA22074.

<02> Gathercole E Clare, 1999/ 2002, Comments by SMR compiler in SMR database, 09/11/2004 (SMR comment). SSA20725.

Sources

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