2020

Two of the sites were in gardens in King Alfred Place, the area which had been occupied by the nave of the Abbey church until the Dissolution, and subsequently between 1788 and c.1860 by the county Bridewell.

For the other two sites, the dig returned to gardens in King Alfred Terrace, one in the area previously occupied by the cloisters, and another to the west just outside of the cloister area. In addition there was a separate team in a ‘finds’ tent, where the items discovered were processed and recorded.

Once again the area excavated yielded results which exceeded all expectations. 

Trench 14 and 15 - King Alfred Place

These trenches revealed a 0.3m thick layer of loosely packed demolition rubble most probably from the Bridewell at 0.3m below ground level. In one trench at around 0.6m below ground level, a series of chalk clunch blocks with a roughly axed finish in amongst a compacted chalk layer were found.

These almost certainly came from the nave of the Abbey over which the Bridewell was built. A similar make up, without the chalk blocks, was found in the second trench.

Finds included fragments of medieval decorated tile and of Roman greyware.

Trench 16 and 17 - King Alfred Place

These trenches revealed an area of rough floor (and some roofing) tile surface about 1 by 1.5 metres some 0.7m below ground level which is likely to be the floor of one of the areas of the Bridewell.

Below this was a densely packed layer of chalk extending to at least 0.4m below the floor surface, potentially extending to 0.95m below the floor surface, similar to that found next door.

Probing revealed hard surface remains of what is likely to be the Abbey church over the south end of the trench 1.65m below ground level.

Finds included fragments of medieval decorated tile and brick and other demolition rubble from the Bridewell.

Trench 18 and 19 - King Alfred Terrace

The wall already found in this garden was revealed to be even larger than previously thought, with flint facings showing that it was approximately 1.5 m wide and in exact alignment with the cloister buildings. This indicated that it had formed part of a substantial building of at least two storeys. 

Research into comparable abbeys pointed to the possibility of the wall having been part of the long lost abbot’s lodging. This building was the first structure to be quoted as still standing after the Dissolution in the grant by Henry VIII to Bethell of the site in 1546. The north face of the  wall terminated at the western end with an approximately rectangular greensand block  measuring around 200mm X 250mm. 

Already found earlier in the year alongside the south face of the wall was a 200-300mm thick layer of oyster shells (95+%) and other molluscs which was notable as it contained no pottery fragments, and appeared to overlay a previous possibly medieval demolition layer. The deposit is being analysed which may provide evidence of dates. 

A substantial deposit of medieval painted glass fragments (400+) was found adjacent to the north-west corner of the wall. These are currently being cleaned and conserved. The presence of this indicated that the structure found had been in all probability a high status building. The glass is of major importance as finds of medieval glass are rare.

Trench 20 and 21 - King Alfred Terrace

These trenches were next door to where the Norman voussoirs and many of the 2017-18 dig finds came from.

A beautifully defined wall running east–west was revealed with remains of a white painted plaster facing on the north side, with flintwork on the south face described by Tim Tatton Brown as typical of the later middle ages. 

This trench also provided some Roman pottery and fragments of decorated tiles, one of which featured a leaf – a pattern not previously found in the precincts of Hyde Abbey.