Record Details

Summary

Archaeological excavations at Bolebridge Street in 1968 revealed evidence for three phases of activity including a possible Saxon or earlier ditch (maybe a boundary ditch), a wide, deep ditch of probable Saxon date which appears to have been deliberately filled with one section produced destruction material, consisting of large preserved timbers, wattling and Roman-type building material and Roman painted wall plaster. The final phase was a third, large ditch also lying parallel which itself had been completely filled by the end of the 13th century. The ditch-features are likely to represent successive phases of the town defences.

Monument Type(s):

• TOWN DEFENCES (Anglo Saxon - 913 AD to 913 AD)
• TOWN DITCH (Norman to MEDIEVAL - 1066 AD to 1299 AD?)
• BOUNDARY DITCH? (Early Medieval to Anglo Saxon - 410 AD? to 912 AD)
• BOUNDARY DITCH? (ROMAN - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)

Associated Finds:

• RUBBLE (ROMAN - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
• STRUCTURAL TIMBER? (ROMAN - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
• WALL PLASTER (ROMAN - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)

Associated Events:

• EST2460 - An archaeological excavation at the Brewery Site, off Bolebridge Street, Tamworth in 1968. (NRHE Name - Bolebridge Street)
• EST3669 - An archaeological excavation at Bolebridge Street, Tamworth, 1971. (NRHE Name - Working Mens Club, Bolebridge Street)

Full description

'Excavation of a large carpark on this east side of town located the medieval ditch and rampart with complex stratification and much medieval pottery. The line of the Saxon defences on this side was located by trial trenching in a property adjoining the car park on its west side, but could not be thoroughly explored because of a high water table, running sand and inadequate time and resources. Enough was seen, however, to suggest that a ditch found was the same as that of the primary Saxon phase located on the west side of town (PRN 01316 and PRN 58280). Here, however, it was waterlogged and contained preserved timber, Roman building material and Roman painted plaster. (SB, 02-Feb-2015) <1>

Excavation on the car park established the line and the character of the defences on the south-east side of the town. Three main phases were distinguishable. Phase I, possibly Saxon or earlier, consisted of a small ditch which may have been a boundary. This contained no finds but was completely silted before the phase-II ditch was cut. Phase II, provisionally dated to the Saxon period (c14 dates for one of the preserved timbers pending at the time of publication), comprised of a wide, deep ditch just south of the phase I ditch and parallel to it. This ditch had been deliberately filled and one section produced destruction material, consisting of large preserved timbers, wattling and Roman-type building material and painted wall plaster. There were no associated finds, but a final silting contained pottery of 12th century date. There was no standing rampart associated with the ditch, but 20ft behind it were a number of horizontal timber features, either at right angles or parallel to it. These could not be definitely associated with any phase and may be the strapping of a rampart or occupation features. Phase III, 50ft south of the Phase II ditch and almost parallel with it, was represented by a large ditch which had been completely filled by the 1th century. Turf, gravel and clay, partially filling the ditch have been interpreted as collapsed rampart material. At the period represented by this phase the defences comprised a wide ditch, probably with a bank directly behind it. (SB, 02-Feb-2015) <2>

Sources and further reading

Related records

Feedback

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from Exegesis Spatial Data Management.