Site Event/Activity record ECH6268 - Archaeological Mitigation and Investigation. New Museum Building, Norton Priory

Following on from earlier evaluation work (ECH5859 and ECH5886), archaeological investigations were undertaken in 2015-16 prior to the commencement of building work associated with a new museum building at Norton Priory. In order to resolve subsidence issues in the Undercroft floor, deeper excavations resulted in the identification of well-preserved timber building remains, pre-dating the stone buildings of the priory; tree-ring analysis allowed the timbers to be dated accurately to the mid-twelfth century. Elsewhere, surfaces, drains, foundations and other features relating to the stone priory and its subsequent post-Dissolution transition to a large country house, were exposed but generally left undisturbed. The retrieval of finds and the identification of activity relating to previous excavations carried out on the site during the 1970s and 1980s are also of interest. With the removal of most of the soft archaeology – soil layers, deposits – during the excavations of the 1970s and 80s, there was naturally a paucity of finds recovered during the current excavations. Indeed, with the exception of medieval ceramics dumped during the creation of landscaping around the current museum building, the vast majority of the finds recovered were either residual or consisted of modern, 20th-century finds recovered from features and deposits associated with Phase 7.