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Summary

The junction of two possible medieval dressed chalk and flint walls was recorded during an archaeological watching brief.

Monument Type(s):

• FINDSPOT (Medieval - 1201 AD to 1499 AD)
• WALL (Medieval - 1201 AD to 1499 AD)

Description

The junction of two walls of dressed chalk and flint was discovered during a watching brief. One wall ran north-south, the other east-west. The northern end of the north-south wall had been truncated by a later service trench. The walls formed a corner, which stood to c. 1.2m at its highest point, but elsewhere it generally only survived to a height of c. 0.4m at its northern and eastern ends. The foundations of the north-south wall appeared to have been dug to a slightly greater depth, while the east-west wall appeared to rest on a course of clay tiles laid on the natural gravel. The walls were made of alternate courses of dressed chalk blocks, roughly knapped large flint nodules and unglazed ceramic tiles in courses, which were three-four tiles thick. The wall was bonded by a coarse yellow mortar, perhaps of lime, which included chalk pieces and sand. During the removal of the material from around the walls, two pieces of handmade roof tile of late medieval/post-medieval date and nine sherds of medieval pottery were recovered. The pottery was of 13th – 15th century date. The finds were in a loose, dark material, and therefore could not be regarded as securely stratified. However, the character of the walls themselves is comparable with examples found within the Abbey precinct and which are considered to be of medieval date. It seems likely therefore that the wall is medieval and formed part of the buildings of the Abbey <1>.

<1> Wessex Archaeology, 1993, Reading Assize Courts, Berkshire. Archaeological Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SRD12636.

Sources

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