Monument Type(s):

• POOL (Late Saxon to Medieval - 800 AD? to 1540 AD)

Summary

This site represents: a pool of probable late Saxon to medieval date.

Related records

Associated Finds

• FSA485 - PLANT MACRO REMAINS (Undated)

Associated Events

• ESA3630 - 1973 excavation, Gullet Passage, Shrewsbury
• ESA3633 - 1971 excavations r/o 6-7 Mardol Head
• ESA4718 - 1999-2000 WB on Shrewsbury South Central (Phase 2) Water Mains Renewal by SCCAS
• ESA5479 - 1985-1986 clearance of Talbot Chambers site by BUFAU (Ref: BUFAU TC86)
• ESA6156 - 2000-2001 WB below the Old Market Hall, Shrewsbury by Nigel Baker (Ref: Archaeol J, vol 163)

Description

The name is first (?) recorded in a Shrewsbury Abbey charter of c.1245 in the context of the market place (foro salopesberie) (Rees 1975, no.163) <1>

According to Hobbs, the name 'derives from Gumstol or Gumble stool, the cucking stool for the punishment of scolds' and implies the presence of open water for that purpose, almost certainly the 'large pool or bog on the site of the old Town Hall and the Square'. After the 14th century Gumblestolestrete ceased to be used as the name for the present High Street, and the ducking stool was (says Hobbs) removed to St John's Hill, so the last open water may have disappeared by then <2>

The frequency of rebuilding of the medieval Boothall in the Square [PRN 01482] may possibly be associated with the unstable and/or damp ground on which it must have been built. Numerous sightings (recorded above) of waterlogged and/or peat like deposits form a basically triangular group, bounded to the north by the High Street, its edge apparently retained above the wet ground by a row of driven oak piles (sites 60121, 60200) of unknown date. Site 60204 to the south encountered only a slight depth of peat, apparently at the margins of the feature. Sites 60202 and 60207 in the centre of the Square and on its west side, found no such deposits, suggesting that the sightings listed above in the Shirehall area represent a discrete feature and are not to be directly associated with further 'peat' sightings in the Mardol Head area (60127, 60129). This feature is interpreted as a Kettle Hole, a natural water/peat filled depression of post-glacial origin <3>

The top of a peat deposit sealed by natural sand was observed at the northwestern end of High Street. This is likely to represent the northern edge of the kettle hole <4>

One of the aims of work at the Talbot Chambers site was to establish whether the peat deposit extended that far south <5>

Waterlogged deposits extended as far west as the line of Mardol Head and Shoplatch, where a causeway probably [PRN 08547] marked the fringe of the wet ground. The area was drained by a watercourse, part of which was located in Claremont Street [PRN 60318]. The waterlogged deposits have been encountered in several excavations, including the 1971 excavations to the rear of 6-7 Mardol Head. There, a shallow deposit of waterlogged peat was exposed overlying natural gravel and containing the remains of a 13th century timber building [see PRN 60129] <6>

<01> Rees M U, 1975, The Cartulary of Shrewsbury Abbey (Monograph). SSA10576.

<02> Hobbs J L, 1954, Street Names of Shrewsbury, p57 (Monograph). SSA365.

<03> Baker Nigel J, 1995, Shrewsbury Urban Archaeological Database: a Report on the Pilot Study (Archaeological fieldwork report). SSA10700.

<04> Hannaford Hugh R, 2001, An Archaeological Watching Brief on the Shrewsbury South Central (Phase 2) Water Main Renewal, p7-8, Fig 4 (Watching brief report). SSA20431.

<05> Baker Nigel J et al, 1989, The Talbot Chambers Site, Market Street, Shrewsbury (Article in serial). SSA10358.

<06> Baker Nigel J, 2004, An archaeological watching brief at Mardol Head, Shrewsbury (Watching brief report). SSA22080.

<07> Baker Nigel J et 2 al, 2006, Shrewsbury market place and hall, p194-195 (Article in serial). SSA22988.

Sources

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