Site Event/Activity record ESF22333 - Monitoring - Cathedral Yard Drain Repairs, Bury St Edmunds

The sudden appearance of a hole outside Cathedral offices on Angel Hill led to the exposure of two large openings, which had spread unobserved below the tarmac skin . Extensive erosion, caused by blocked drains, of soft fill had undermined part of the yard, and ground running beneath Abbey House. The deepest of the holes, at over two metres, offered a significant threat to the integrity of the standing building and the surrounding area, which provided vehicular access to the Cathedral car park. The archaeological brief provided by the Cathedral authorities was to investigate and record archaeological deposits exposed by the erosion.