Scheduled Ancient Monument: AREA OF MIDDLE AND LATE SAXON AND MEDIEVAL DEFENCES, OFF SHIRE HALL YARD (SF189-b)

The buried remains of Late Saxon and medieval town defences and a section of C14 Dominican Friary precinct wall lying beneath a car park and a bus depot within a north-east to south-west aligned rectangular site. It is bounded to the north-west and south-east by Shire Hall Yard/Pleasant Row and Lower Orwell Street respectively and by a former 1960s bonded warehouse to the north-east. A 1980s extension to a 1950s bus depot overlies the southern quarter. The two sections are divided by a footpath which runs across the site in a north-west to south-east direction. The buried remains of the Late Saxon town ditch run in a north-east to south-west alignment along the entire length of the site. When sectioned in 1959, it was found to have a V-shaped profile and, although its east side had been removed when the medieval town ditch was cut, it was estimated to have measured 5m to 6m wide with a depth of between 1.5m to 2m. he medieval town ditch of 1203 was also sectioned in 1959 and measured 5.5m to 6.1m wide and 3.5m deep. Although the ditch was exposed by the 1981/82 excavation, it was not excavated. On the west side of the ditch is the levelled rampart which probably overlies evidence for the Anglo-Saxon domestic occupation of the site. The buried remains of a foundation trench for a town wall that was never built lies between the medieval ditch and its levelled rampart. Dug at some time between July 1352 and November 1354, it has vertical sides and measures 2.1m wide and 1.5m deep. Running down the middle of the site in a north-east to south-west alignment are the substantial remains of a C14 friary precinct wall. It measures circa 1m wide and stands to a height of circa 2.1m, with the lower courses constructed from large blocks of septaria, while the upper section is of flint cobble with occasional bonding slabs of larger material. Its outer eastern face is lined with C20 brick. Although the wall principally survives as a buried feature beneath the car park and bus station, its top is visible as surface indentations in the car park in the northern section of the site. The medieval town ditch of 1203 was also sectioned in 1959 and measured 5.5m to 6.1m wide and 3.5m deep. Although the ditch was exposed by the 1981/82 excavation, it was not excavated. On the west side of the ditch is the levelled rampart which probably overlies evidence for the Anglo-Saxon domestic occupation of the site. The buried remains of a foundation trench for a town wall that was never built lies between the medieval ditch and its levelled rampart. Dug at some time between July 1352 and November 1354, it has vertical sides and measures 2.1m wide and 1.5m deep. Running down the middle of the site in a north-east to south-west alignment are the substantial remains of a C14 friary precinct wall. It measures circa 1m wide and stands to a height of circa 2.1m, with the lower courses constructed from large blocks of septaria, while the upper section is of flint cobble with occasional bonding slabs of larger material. Its outer eastern face is lined with C20 brick. Although the wall principally survives as a buried feature beneath the car park and bus station, its top is visible as surface indentations in the car park in the northern section of the site.