We are already halfway through the second week and things
are gradually beginning to make sense (in some trenches at least). Even so,
there is still plenty to keep our diggers occupied and we still have a long way
to go before we can consider our task to be complete.
Trench N
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| The Trench N wall slowly emerges... |
In Trench N, the east end of the hospital is slowly emerging
from the surrounding rubble and is both extremely well built and massive. It
transpires that what we formerly thought to be a possible undercroft is in fact
the original walls, which have been largely robbed along their northern and
southern length. As a result, the large humps within the trench are not walls,
as previously thought, but are instead upcast, or large spoil heaps, formed by
the individuals responsible for robbing the hospital stone. Pottery found
within the robber trench appears to date this event to the 16th century, shortly after Thornton was suppressed. Evidently the local inhabitants
wasted no time in taking advantage of a valuable building resource on their
doorstep!
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| The pile of rubble in the centre is a floor, honest! |
Trench P
More floor tiles have been uncovered in Trench P and their
distribution suggests that, as opposed to being discarded during the
dismantlement of the building, they have instead been smashed in situ. However, they have been heavily
disturbed, possibly indicating a large weight (such as the upper reaches of the
hospital wall) landed on them. These have been carefully cleaned and
photographed and will be lifted in the near future.
Towards the eastern edge of the trench, a large depression
has been revealed as another robber trench, although it is slightly curious.
Within the cut is a series of small tiles which are mortared firmly onto a
long, narrow stone. Furthermore, to the north of this stone (and on the
building’s exterior) is a rather fine cobble and crushed limestone surface
which does not appear to extend to the west of the trench. Although we still
need to investigate this feature further, it may be that the stone represents a
former doorway, with the tiles used to level the doorstep in the same way as
you might put a piece of card under a wonky table leg.
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| Trench R tiles |
Trench R
For a trench with so little in it, Trench R is still proving
to be fairly mysterious. The southwest and northeast corners were extended to
find the outside edge of the robber cut, which was quickly located in the
southeast. This was accompanied with a large spread of roof tiles which fell
off the building’s roof after it had fallen into disrepair. However, in the
northeast the robber cut appears to be far wider, and we are yet to find its
edge. We will have one last attempt tomorrow to find it, but this may be one
on-site enigma which remains unsolved.
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| Planning Trench S, with the "corridor" clearly visible |
Trench S
Trench S is looking beautifully clean and tidy and is
currently being planned. It appears to have had at least two phases, with the
north-south running wall having been rebuilt at least once during the building’s
lifetime. In addition, the robbed out portion of our original wall may have
been in order to insert an internal doorway into the building, with bricks
inserted in the place of stones that had been ripped out. The doorway also
explains the area to the north of the wall, which consists of a broken layer of
bricks which suddenly stop in line with the proposed door. The broken bricks
could indicate a floor layer for an ancillary building to the hospital, such as
a stable, with a corridor made of a different material, which has since been
removed, leading from the doorway. Removal of the broken bricks will take place
shortly any material found within it may provide a clue for the building’s
former use.
Trench T
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| Planning the undulating Trench T is challenging! |
We continue to deliberate over the structure in Trench T. It
is clearly vaulted and may be a bridge leading from the hospital precinct
gateway towards the hospital itself, although Francesca (the trench supervisor)
still remains convinced it’s a drain. However, removal of the rubble north of
the structure has revealed a cut which we will soon start to excavate and this
should hopefully start to answer some of our many questions about the trench.
Fingers crossed, the weather should continue to be fine for
the next few days and by the weekend we may even be in a position where five
trenches have been reduced to three. However, it is still relatively early in
the excavation’s progress and there is still plenty of opportunity for further exciting
and unexpected developments in all our trenches.
