Bryn Gethin
16 Nov 2015
WARWICK
The Bus Station (excavated in 2008): Market Street was redeveloped with 1960s shops and its southern end re-aligned to provide a car park. This was the site excavated and the foundations of the old buildings, including The Mulberry Tree Inn, were found. Many clay pipes from the 1860s were discovered together with the remains of the kilns in which they had been made. Three Neolithic pits contained pottery of that period. The old town ditch was located but no remains of the walls. Numerous Muria Grants had been recorded but what type of walls were built with the money was not stated, so they may never have been stone. Other towns had stone gatehouses but only wood & earth walls. The walls had disappeared by 1610 when John Speed drew his map of the town.
St Lawrence Church (excavated 2009/10): One of 10 churches in mediaeval Warwick, this was first mentioned in 1123 when St Mary’s was refounded, and given all the smaller churches in the town to help its finances. It stood in West Street beside its junction with Castle Lane, outside the Westgate, its site being marked on the 1711 map. In 1360 the Bishop of Worcester agreed to a request that all the smaller churches in Warwick should be closed, but St Lawrence’s still operated in 1403; only a resubmission to the Bishop in 1410 secured its closure. Originally comprising a chancel, north aisle and nave, only the latter survived – used as a barn – until 1680 when it was demolished. The owners of the modern house wished to have a double garage and driveway. When the foundations for this were being dug, the remains of the church and many graves were discovered. The graves were lined with cut stone, and one had a decorated (broken) slab, so was probably that of a priest. Subsequent graves cut into earlier ones over the churchyard’s 300 year usage, and over 160 skeletons were uncovered. Besides delaying the new building work, the excavations cost c£20,000.
The Castle: Lord Brooke had strengthened his castle just before the Civil War, so the Royalists were unable to take it. Canaletto’s painting of 1745 showed that houses still came close to the castle’s walls. When the muniment room at the base of Guy’s Tower was cleared out around 2000, documents going back to the 14th century were discovered. Graffiti on the walls included fleur de lys, which probably meant that French prisoners were held there in the 1400s.
KENILWORTH
The Castle: Dugdale’s Antiquities of Warwickshire (1656) included plans of the castle which was wrecked in 1650. A narrow postern gate was discovered beside Lunn’s Tower in 2012. It was probably built around 1210 when King John strengthened the castle. Venetian glass and a civil war cannonball were also found. Excavations were made in the floor of the stables (built 1550), and on the site of the new ticket office. There the clay lining of The Mere, with a slope on which to beach boats, was discovered.
The Abbey Gatehouse (excavated 2014): Buttresses were found on both sides of the gateway, probably dating from the rebuild in 1340.
LONG COMPTON
The Mediaeval Village (excavated 2015): Foundations of several houses – end on to Clarke’s Lane for those at that end of the large site – plus barns and drainage channels were discovered before a new housing estate was erected. The remains probably dated from around 1300. One building seems to have been used for industrial purposes as it had a particularly wide drain; it was probably a small fulling mill.