AR01055_EMAP_Gazetteer_of_Sites_4-2_10.pdf - The Heritage ...

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quantities of slag, the vast bulk of the crucibles, almost all of the scrap copper-alloy and glass, a trialpiece
and an unusual stone tool. The scrap copper-alloy comprised corroded and intact fragments of
sheet and strip, many with rivet and nail-holes; two small ingots; one small rivet with a hexagonal
shaft; one nail; a small ring; and the lip of a small square vessel or implement. It is possible that this
feature may have been a worn pathway which was later filled with early medieval industrial waste.
Alternatively, it could have formed part of an early medieval industrial structure.
The assemblage of crucibles, slag, copper-alloy rivets and nails, scrap copper-alloy and a trial-piece
and stone tool from the long curving gully provides clear evidence for the working, if not smelting, of
copper-alloy on the site. The considerable quantity of slag, crucibles and other materials might
indicate the existence of an early medieval iron or metal-working preparation area nearby. A small
piece of fine, beaded, gold wire was also found in the floor of the large thirteenth century stone
building and the form and purity of the metal might indicate a sixth or seventh century date for it.
Globules of glass, glass rods (or canes) and broken glass beads could provide potential evidence for
early medieval glass-smelting on the site. However, the available evidence would indicate that readymade
glass was imported into the site to be worked into finished products and that glass forming
from primary materials did not take place on the site during the early medieval period.
An early medieval iron pin with a decorative glass head was also discovered within the long curving
gully and may demonstrate the existence of a vibrant on-site industry producing highly sophisticated
composite objects. The faunal evidence from the early medieval levels indicates that the cow was the
most dominant animal followed by sheep/goat and pig and to a lesser extent horse, cod and fowls.
Other early medieval finds included a small fragment of lignite bracelets, whetstones, stone spindlewhorls,
a marble sling-shot, a pre-mid thirteenth century lead ingot, copper-alloy and iron pins, iron
nails and other miscellaneous iron objects and a rotary quern stone.
It is probable that the residential area of the early medieval monastery was located elsewhere on the
site. Although the excavation uncovered traces of early medieval structures, no convincing evidence
as to the form of these buildings survived. Instead, most of the features appear to have been related
to an industrial zone. No substantial industrial remains were uncovered within the excavated area,
though this is perhaps understandable if the activities here were primarily confined to the working
and manufacture of glass and bronze items from imported raw materials. This industrial zone was
discovered in close proximity to the medieval abbey, which would have posed an unnecessary fire-risk
to these ecclesiastical buildings. This might indicate that the non-extant early medieval church was
situated elsewhere on the site away from the medieval abbey; supporting Ann Hamlin’s assertion that
where an Augustinian abbey was built at a pre-twelfth century ecclesiastical site, it was sometimes
placed away from the original church and on the edge of the enclosure (Hamlin, in Yates 1983, 54).
The stone footings of a large thirteenth century building were uncovered at the west end of trench 5.
A dump of levelling material was deposited at the western end of this building immediately before the
structure was built and its foundation trench cut the long curving early medieval gully. Only three
sides of the stone building were revealed. Its walls were 1.1-1.3m wide and were composed or large
irregular bounders, roughly laid in courses and infilled with smaller stones. Within the interior of the
large stone building were the remains of a clay floor at its northern end and a stone paved equivalent
at the southern end; both of these were roughly contemporary with each other and were probably
associated with an internal hearth and stone-lined drain. The building may have supported a first or
even second floor, with the ground floor used as a combined byre and store or workroom.
The thirteenth century building was contemporary with a midden outside its north wall. The midden
lay to the north of the stone building directly against the outer face of its north wall and continued to
accumulate during and after the life of the stone building in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
Also possibly associated with the building was a broad, shallow, flat-bottomed gully with gently
sloping sides, measuring 0.95-1.45m wide x 0.25-0.30m in maximum depth and excavated for a
length of 7.35m. It was interpreted as a thirteenth century property boundary, perhaps linked to the
main building. The fill of the ditch contained a considerable quantity of medieval everted rim ware
and several roof slates which may indicate the presence of other slate roofed buildings in the vicinity.
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