| Summary: | Watching brief on site during groundworks following demolition of brewery buildings. The layers exposed comprised an uppermost concrete floor in the southern section under which lay a slate floor. This in turn was bedded in a layer of broken flower pots, bricks and pottery. Under this late pottery was a thick layer of dark (garden?) soild with Victorian type sherds, glass etc. Immediately below were lenses of burnt material. The bottom third of the section comprised dumps of 17th and 18th century pottery waste. In one of the lower layers was a token of 1656. Light yellow clay with pebbles undlay the dumped pottery layers. Sand appeared as the JCB dug back towards the Strand within which was an area of well-laid cobbles which was bounded on the west side by a pebble and slate wall. The northern half of the site was not excavated to the same degree as the southern half. An arched ceilinged cellar was bulldozed through, which although flooded seems to be full of 19th century bottles from the old Starkey brewery. |
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