Norfolk Heritage Explorer

Location

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May-August 2009. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of route of proposed new thoroughfare (Trenches 7-10).
All four of the trenches excavated were within the former precinct of the Carmelite Friary (NHER 5481), although remains that could be directly associated with the friary were only identified in the northernmost trench. This trench exposed the remains of the precinct wall that extended westwards from Whitefriars Gate and potentially out into the river. It was built principally of brick and chalk, although some carstone and flint had also been used. Material dumped against the wall produced pottery of 13th century date and was overlain by a sequence of deposits that included at least three probable mortar surfaces. These possible floor layers may have been associated with a building, although as no other structural remains were identified this remains a tentative suggestion. A later wall built above and adjacent to the remains of the medieval wall was constructed of handmade bricks. Apart from the presence of these structural remains the deposit sequence was broadly the same as that exposed in the other three trenches, with alluvial deposits sealed by layers of medieval and post-medieval dumped material. Although a number of pits and walls were identified there were all believed to have been associated with post-medieval phases of activity. The relatively small assemblage of medieval finds recovered comprised less than ten pottery sherds, two Flemish floor tiles and a number of bricks and roof tiles. Although buildings are shown at this location on early maps the walls uncovered are thought to have been associated with structures of later post-medieval date. It was however noted that a number of the post-medieval dumped layers appeared to comprise material that was probably derived from the demolition of nearby buildings. A north-to-south aligned wall built of brick, chalk and "…imported igneous rock…" appeared in two of the trenches and due to the lack of associated floor surfaces was interpreted as a probable boundary wall.
The post-medieval finds assemblage was unremarkable, comprising mostly fragments of ceramic building material.
See report (S1) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S2).
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2016.322).
P. Watkins (HES), 9 April 2018. Amended 23 June 2019.

October-November 2010. Excavation and Watching Brief.
Excavation of site on line of new Public Transport Route between Boal Quay and Wisbech Road. Although the area investigated was large (encompassing much of what had been Whitefriars Car Park) the depth of the excavation was limited to the formation level of the new road. As a result the features and deposits exposed were almost exclusively of post-medieval date, with little opportunity to investigate any underlying evidence for medieval activity. The excavation was however sufficiently deep to again expose the medieval precinct wall, which appeared to turn to the south approximately 15m to the west of Whitefriars Gate. Only a stub of this north-south wall survived, the remainder having apparently been robbed out during the 19th century. As during the earlier work there was evidence that the wall had been constructed in two phases, with a western section comprising brick and chalk rubble likely to be earlier than a much smarter section built entirely of brick to the east. The bricks forming the later build are identical to those in the adjacent extant gatehouse, which is of probable 15th-century date.
Although no other medieval structural remains were exposed it was observed that large amounts of medieval masonry and building material had been reused in the walls of later buildings. The most notable example of this was the north-to-south aligned wall that had been observed during the evaluation and was now shown to be a particularly extensive structure that extended at least 55m southwards from the precinct wall. The foundations of this wall were built from unevenly coursed chalk and limestone with occasional large blocks of green sandstone. The stone was clearly reused (some pieces having been burnt prior to being incorporated), as were the medieval bricks that made up much of the upper element of the wall. It was also noted that a buttress on the west side of this wall incorporated a substantial conglomeration of around 17 partially burnt and vitrified bricks that may have originated from a local brick or tile kiln. The exact date and nature of this wall are somewhat uncertain. It has been tentatively dated to the 18th century as it appears to post-date deposits containing material of 16th- to early 17th-century date and corresponds with the position of a long building shown on a map of 1819. It is possible that this is one of the buildings shown at this location on Faden’s late 18th-century map of King’s Lynn. A similarly-aligned building is also shown on the more detailed late 19th-century Ordnance Survey 1:500 Town Plan map, the western wall of which lies on exactly the same line as the excavated wall. It should though be noted that the wall is twice the length of the 19th-century building, indicating (as previously suggested) that this an earlier boundary wall that had come to be partially incorporated within a later structure. It is also interesting to note that on the early Ordnance Survey maps it is this building that is overlain with the annotation "St Mary’s Priory (Carmelite) (Remains of)", perhaps indicating earlier fabric was visible in its wall. Several fragments of medieval architectural stonework were also identified in the fabric of later walls, including a column base of possible mid 13th-century date that may have been part of the friary church.
The earliest deposit exposed across much of the site was an extensive silt that produced a mix of medieval and post-medieval finds. Various later deposits could be more closely dated to either 17th- or 18th-century phases of activity, the majority of which appear to have been dumps of domestic waste and demolition debris. A number of probable pits were identified most, if not all, of which had probably been dug in order to dispose of waste material. Apart from a possible well built from reused medieval bricks all of the other post-medieval structural remains were of 18th-century or later date, including a number of east-to-west walls likely to have been associated with the building shown on 19th-century maps.
Previous work in the area indicates that during the medieval period some form of watercourse or drainage feature may have flowed east-to-west between All Saints Street and what is now Carmelite Terrace. It is suggested that the position and orientation of the post-medieval deposits exposed in the northernmost part of the site may represent the fossilised remains of the mouth of this watercourse.
As during the earlier work medieval finds were largely limited to building material with few pottery sherds and only four metal objects of this date recovered. This supports the suggestion that this part of the medieval friary precinct was away from the main areas of activity, but must also reflect the fact that the excavation did not reach any undisturbed medieval features or deposits. The much larger assemblage of post-medieval to modern finds comprises almost 900 pottery sherds, a range of ceramic building material, over 200 fragments of clay tobacco pipe, animal bone, coins and a range of other metal objects.
See report (S3) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S4).
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2011.205 and NWHCM : 2017.422).
P. Watkins (HES), 9 April 2018 and 12 May 2019.

Monument Types

• FINDSPOT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• FINDSPOT (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• FLOOR? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• PRECINCT WALL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• PRECINCT WALL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• BOUNDARY WALL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• FINDSPOT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• FINDSPOT (Post Medieval to 21st Century - 1540 AD to 2100 AD)
• LAYER (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• PIT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• PIT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• WALL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• WELL? (Post Medieval - 1540 AD? to 1900 AD?)

Associated Finds

• BUILDING MATERIAL (Unknown date)
• NAIL (Unknown date)
• POT (Unknown date)
• SHEET (Unknown date)
• WASTE (Unknown date)
• ANIMAL REMAINS (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• BRICK (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• BRICK (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• BRICK (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1539 AD?)
• BRICK? (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1539 AD?)
• BUCKLE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• CAME (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• CLAY PIPE (SMOKING) (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• COMB (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• DISC (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• FISH REMAINS (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• FLOOR TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• FLOOR TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• FLOOR TILE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• MOLLUSCA REMAINS (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• MOUNT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• ROOF TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• ROOF TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• ROOF TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1539 AD?)
• VESSEL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• ANIMAL REMAINS (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• BOOK FITTING? (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• BOTTLE (Post Medieval to 21st Century - 1540 AD to 2050 AD)
• BRICK (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• BRICK (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• BRICK (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• BRICK (Post Medieval - 1540 AD? to 1900 AD?)
• BUCKLE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• BUTTON (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• CHIMNEY (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• CLAY PIPE (SMOKING) (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• CLAY PIPE (SMOKING) (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• COIN (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• COIN (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• DIE STAMP (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• MOUNT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• MUSKET BALL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• NAIL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• NAIL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD? to 1900 AD?)
• PANTILE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• POT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• POT (Post Medieval to 21st Century - 1540 AD to 2050 AD)
• RING (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• RING (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• ROOF TILE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• SPOON (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• STRAP FITTING (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• THIMBLE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• TILE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• TOY (Post Medieval - 1540 AD? to 1900 AD?)
• TOY? (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• WASHER? (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• WASTE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD? to 1900 AD?)
• WATCH (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• WEIGHT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• WINDOW (Post Medieval to 21st Century - 1540 AD to 2050 AD)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

Related records