Monument record BSE 375 - Medieval layers and wall, Shire Hall car park, Bury St Edmunds

1998: Ground investigations revealed that the topsoil (0.4m-0.6m) overlay sandy gravelly clays with chalk fragments and rootlets. The auger was unable to penetrate below 0.8m-1.2m depth (S2)

2011: Evaluation of the Shire Hall car park showed that the landscape had been raised. This occurred in the 15th century with the dumping of gravels over marsh-land and river silts to create fishponds, a mill-leat and grazing meadows. This required the precinct wall to be extended. Excavation at the base of the original phase of the 12th century wall uncovered a buttress and possible rendering. Further ground heightening was carried out during the 18th century when topsoil was brought in to create the garden for St Margaret's House (S1).

Monitoring of works associated with the rerouting of a pipeline to the S and N of the medieval abbey precinct wall revealed a sequence of alluvial deposits, along with several archaeological features and layers. An early cut feature produced a single sherd of Middle Anglo-Saxon pottery along with animal bone and charred cereal remains. Two later parallel ditches were located to the N, with a third positioned at right angles to the N of the later precinct wall. These were sealed by a medieval buried soil, which was in turn cut by a large pond. Above this, a series of dumped layers of clay, sand and silt had been laid to provide a foundation for the medieval precinct wall. Part of a wall foundation and a possible robbed out buttress were found on the N side of the wall, within the interior of the abbey precinct. Extending to the S of the precinct wall, the sequence of imported gravels identified from previous evaluation was also recorded. These appear to represent episodes of ground raising within the floodplain linked to the creation of the abbey’s fishponds and grazing meadows, possibly completed during the 15th century when the precinct wall was also extended. Two pits or ditches were located outside the precinct wall, cutting into the uppermost compacted gravel. Post-medieval activity was represented by further imported soils probably associated with the gardens of St Margaret’s House. Few finds were recovered, although environmental samples produced a diverse assemblage of waterlogged remains largely from the fills of the pond. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2017 (S3).

An evaluation was carried out of the former Shire Hall car park and the Manor House car park alongside the Record Office, prior to the submission of redevelopment plans. The evaluation of the Shire Hall car park showed that the landscape was an engineered one and the product of at least two campaigns to raise the ground level. The first of these occurred in the 15th century with the dumping of gravels over marshland and river silts and was part of a wider scheme to create the fishponds, a mill-leat within the Abbey complex and enhanced grazing meadows. The dumping of gravel and the creation of a narrower floodplain required the precinct wall to be extended and this can be seen in the fabric of the wall. A trench excavated at the base of the original phase of the 12th-century wall discovered the remains of a hitherto unknown buttress with indications of possible render on the wall face. The second ground raising occurred after the Reformation during the 18th century when topsoil was brought in to create the garden for St Margaret’s House; which later became incorporated into the County Council offices. The Weymed Centre site lies within the historic urban core and within the area of the original Saxon settlement; this is reflected in the density and the long sequence of archaeology found there. The site was subject to an ‘urban clearance’ at the start of the 17th century to create a garden for the Marquis of Bristol and the medieval properties that once occupied the site were demolished and buried beneath a substantial depth of imported topsoil. As a consequence the archaeological levels are extraordinarily well preserved. Thetford and St Neots-ware pottery found on the site suggests that it has been in continuous occupation since at least the 10th century. The intensity of activity increased during the high medieval period and the largest assemblage of finds is dated to 12th–14th centuries. Medieval features were recorded across the entire site and included rubbish pits, a ditch and most notably a possible cellared building. Late medieval occupation was evidenced by the remains of buildings which fronted onto Raingate Street and the potential exists for complete building footprints to remain, along with evidence of post-built ancillary structures. Alongside and to the N of the building were two phases of a well-made cobbled surface, possibly a hitherto lost back lane running E–W dividing the block of properties and a sub-division of the town grid. The late medieval buildings were demolished in an apparent single event and there is a 16th century cut–off date for the finds. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2011 (S4).