Recent Excavations at Norwich Castle
By Elizabeth Shepherd Popescu
from: Military Studies in Medieval Europe - Papers of the 'Medieval Europe Brugge 1997' Conference - volume 11
Introduction
Norwich, the largest city in medieval England, dominated
East Anglia from the eleventh century onwards. As a centre of both royal and
ecclesiastical power it developed a sophisticated economy and social structure.
In spite of fluctuating economic fortunes it flourished throughout the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as the country's ‘second city’.
Scheduling was extended to the
area surrounding Norwich castle in 1979, following recognition of the site as
one of national importance. The castle precinct was known to overlie a
substantial part of the pre-Conquest settlement of Norwich, one of the largest
towns in England by 1066. The castle was an early Norman royal fortification
which was first besieged as early as 1075. Although some truncation was evident
in the form of landscaping for a Cattle Market (established in 1738) the site
had largely remained open space since the laying out of the castle's defences.
In response to the threat of
redevelopment for a retail centre, a large scale excavation (c. 2.5 hectares/ 6
acres) was undertaken by the Norfolk Archaeological Unit between 1987 and 1991.
This paper will focus on the evidence for the impact of the castle's imposition
on the Saxon town, the arrangement, alteration and subsequent abandonment of the
fortifications, together with the development of the medieval city on the
fringes of the castle precinct.
Summary of Evidence
The Late Saxon
Settlement
Although a few stray finds of
Middle Saxon date were recovered, it is likely that settlement of this part of
Norwich began during the tenth century. Evidence for Late Saxon occupation was
found across much of the site although the quality of survival varied
significantly. Several types of pre-Conquest building were identified, including
examples of post‑hole, post‑in trench and sunken featured
construction. Associated with these were cess, storage pits and refuse pits,
many of the latter relating to craft or industrial processes. Environmental
evidence indicates that some of the buildings had been used for grain storage.
A Late Saxon cemetery was found
beneath the later southern bailey rampart, from which eighty-five articulated
and twenty-nine disarticulated skeletons were recovered. The cemetery appears to
have remained in use until the construction of the Norman castle after which
burial may have moved to the cemetery of St John de Berstrete to the south
(described below). No church relating to this Saxon cemetery has been
identified. Another pre-Conquest cemetery and associated church were recorded
beneath the subsequent defences of the north-east castle bailey (Ayers 1985) and
yet another may be suggested by the presence of scattered human remains in the
northern part of the site. These disturbed burials, which were redeposited in
later pits, indicate the presence of approximately forty-three individuals.
Dating is at present uncertain and the results of radio-carbon analysis are
awaited.
The Defences of the
Norman & Medieval Castle
Earlier buildings were apparently
demolished or abandoned as part of the clearance of the site for the
construction of a timber castle and its defences. Domesday Book (1086) refers to
ninety-eight properties being enclosed by the defensive circuit. The impact of
the imposition of the castle on the preexisting town can be compared with
similar occurrences at, for example, Lincoln and Chester. The first castle was
established in 1067 or 1068, perhaps even before William I's return to Normandy.
The site selected was a natural ridge overlooking a river valley (now the River
Wensum) to the east, with a small stream to the west (the Great Cockey). Norwich
was to remain the only royal castle in Norfolk and Suffolk until the
construction of Orford in 1165.
A large area of crown land (the
Castle Fee or Liberty) was defined. Part of a ditch, perhaps both delimiting the
Fee and the extent of the defences, was recorded to the south. Elsewhere, the
Fee boundary may have been marked by posts bearing plaques showing the royal
arms. Four such bronze roundels were recorded in 1964, each decorated with the
Arms of England – 1198-1340 (Green, 1965). Crown jurisdiction was maintained
over the Fee until 1345.
A masonry keep replaced its timber
forerunner and was probably constructed between c.1094 and 1122. The earliest
use as a royal residence is documented in the early twelfth century. Henry I
lodged at the castle in 1103, 1108 and 1122, the latter visit for his Christmas
Crownwearing.
Excavation of the southern bailey
ditch and the construction of a stone bridge between the bailey and motte may
have been contemporary with the erection of the masonry keep. The motte bridge
remains substantially intact beneath refacing and its constructional details
will be summarised in a forthcoming article (Shelley forthcoming). The bridge
was first documented when it was repaired in 1172-3, invasion from France being
threatened. Excavations adjacent to the bridge footings indicate that it was
founded nearly five metres below the present day base of the motte ditch. A
series of nine chamfered plinths were recorded, these and the exposed original
bridge facing being dressed in Caen stone.
Twelve large fragments of a
gatehouse originally positioned at the southern end of the bridge were recorded,
having later collapsed into the barbican ditch (described below). The surviving
masonry indicates an originally square or rectangular structure, with walls
about two metre's thick. Some blocks retained hinges, two of which still had
their pins. The collapse of this gatehouse has been attributed to the activities
of individuals quarrying for sand during the post-medieval period.
Lying within a small courtyard at
the foot of the motte bridge was a substantial well which may date to the
twelfth century. A masonry shaft formed the upper part of the well, surviving to
a depth of nearly ten metres. Two timber frameworks were represented by putt log
holes, one forming an access ladder and the other presumably acting as
constructional scaffolding. The shaft held back deposits of natural sand and
gravel, although from the point at which natural chalk was reached an unshored
circular well shaft was dug. The total depth of the well was about thirty
metres.
During the thirteenth century a
massive barbican ditch was excavated, the keep and inner bailey apparently being
maintained as a fortress. Similar developments took place at many castles during
the thirteenth century, with a barbican or outwork added to defend the castle
gateway, culminating in the gatehouse/barbican complexes of the fourteenth
century (Cathcart King 1991, 156). There is no documentary evidence for
improvements to the ditches of Norwich castle at this date. King John (1199-1216)
spent relatively little on his castles, but ditchwork at five of them was
carried out during his reign (Colvin 1963, 79). The Norwich barbican may have
replaced an earlier ditch in the same position and it has been suggested that
this enlargement may have been in response to the capture of the castle in 1216
by Louis the Dauphin of France. The actions of the Dauphin are held responsible
for similar alterations at other castles including Oxford (Kenyon 1991, 79).
Alternatively, the ditch enlargement at Norwich may have taken place later in
the thirteenth century.
Only a small part of the defences
of the northeastern bailey has been examined archaeologically. This bailey was
known as the Castle Meadow throughout the medieval period and beyond (the first
documentary reference being 1351-2) and may have served a similar function from
its outset.
The keep was used mainly as a
prison from c.1300, a role which was to continue until its conversion to a
museum in 1886. Prisoners had been held there, however, since the reign of Henry
I (1100-1135) if not before. The southern bailey appears to have declined in
defensive significance during the thirteenth century, the construction of the
city walls taking place between 1297 and 1344. Encroachment by the townspeople
into the castle precinct began, initially illegally. This encroachment increased
with the granting of the baileys to the city by Edward III in 1345. Flom this
date, the city was free to lease or sell unusable land around the perimeter of
the Fee, a process which was completed in 1397.
The Medieval City
The medieval walled city covered
an area measuring one and a half miles from north to south and one mile from
east to west, making it larger than contemporary London. The walls enclosed a
Benedictine monastery and cathedral, four large friary precincts, nearly seventy
churches, several hospitals, a thriving commercial waterfront and numerous
markets.
The recent excavations revealed
evidence for activities throughout the medieval period on the edge of the castle
precinct and in the churchyard of St. John de Berstrete (now St John the
Baptist, Timberhill). The earliest reference to this church dates from 1157,
although architectural details may suggest an origin in the Late Saxon period.
It is said to have been built by Wodowin the priest and was given to Norwich
Priory soon after its foundation. The line of the cemetery's northern boundary
ditch continued to influence property layout well into the modern period.
A total of one hundred and eighty-nine
articulated and forty-two disarticulated skeletons were recovered, although the
precise dating of the burials remains to be established (radio-carbon analysis
pending). Up to thirty-five of the skeletons showed evidence of leprosy although
there are no records of particular links with any of the lazar houses or
hospitals in and around the city. The nearest leper hospital lay outside St
Stephen's Gate to the south-west.
A wealth of documentary evidence
exists for the development of medieval tenements in the excavated area, over
sixty being studied as part of the current project. The sequence of tenement
deeds and records begins in 1297.
The site yielded evidence of a
variety of crafts and industries, notably bell founding and other forms of metal
working, as well as the normal range of domestic refuse. The evidence for bell
founding is of particular importance, Norwich having been prominent in bell
founding techniques. A bell pit excavated to the east of the Timberhill cemetery
dated to between 1250 and 1400, although mould fragments from fifteenth century
fills of the barbican well indicate that bell founding continued on or close to
the site at a later date.
The Late Medieval
/Post-Medieval Transition
The late medieval to post-medieval
periods saw the decline of the castle and the further growth of the city. In the
documentary record the decline of the castle is represented by court cases. Many
of these involved the unlicensed dumping of refuse, the erection of booths
selling food and drink while the assizes were in session and the grazing of
animals in the southern bailey. A number of these activities were represented
archaeologically, notably the continued disposal of refuse and the exploitation
of the castle ramparts as quarries, providing building materials for the
expanding city.
Other evidence of the castle's
decline was visible in the backfilling of the deep well in the barbican. This
feature was excavated to a depth of over eighteen metres and was sampled by
augering for a further eleven. The majority of the excavated fill had
accumulated during the second half of the fifteenth century and yielded a finds
assemblage of great significance, part of which is summarised here.
Over three thousand pieces of
ironwork were recovered, the group being dominated by small annular buckles. The
fills from which they came also contained a high proportion of spurs and spur
fittings and it is possible that the buckles related to the refitting of spur
leathers. The large quantity of leather waste appears to represent the dumping
of debris from a workshop, probably of a spurrier or lorimer. Other ironwork
includes chain mail, arrowheads, fragments of armour and offcuts from the
production of domeheaded mounts. The substantial number of copper alloy finds
included numerous mounts and studs (many gilded) which may have served as
harness mounts. The significant bird bone assemblage included an unusually large
number of goose wings, Norfolk being famed for its geese throughout the medieval
period. It is probable that the presence of these bones related to the
manufacture of either arrows or quill pens. The most suitable feathers for arrow
vanes were goose pinion feathers and these were used in enormous numbers; for
example in 1436 the sheriffs of Yorkshire and York were ordered to provide
100,000 goose wing feathers for arrow manufacture.
It seems likely that these various
types of debris came from a workshop or workshops repairing armour and weaponry.
Overall, this constitutes the single most important finds assemblage from the
site with implications which reach far beyond the city of Norwich itself.
The Post-Medieval
period
The decline of the castle
continued during the post-Medieval period, with the ditches becornfng
increasingly infilled and the encroachment of the city into the former castle
precincts. The Mayor's Court spent much of its time during the seventeenth
century in dealing with unlicensed quarrying and dumping of refuse within the
castle ditches. Many people were imprisoned in the Bndewell for digging sand,
thirteen people being accused of this offence in 1633.
Filling of the barbican ditch
during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was fairly haphazard but
became more organised in the early eighteenth century, probably indicating
deliberate levelling prior to the construction of the Cattle Market in 1738. In
one part of the ditch a plank and post revetment was inserted to facilitate
access. A considerable proportion of the total pottery assemblage (over 270 kg)
came from this ditch and included a range of local post-medieval wares as well
as regional, English and continental imports. The ditch fills also contained a
huge assemblage of animal bones, offering the opportunity to examine aspects of
animal husbandry during the agrarian revolution of the eighteenth century. In
addition the occurrence of articulated remains of animals can be related
directly to documentary references to the burial of horses, dogs, cats and pigs
in the ditch. This disposal occurred both on a haphazard basis and, in a more
organised fashion, during outbreaks of plague such as that in 1666.
From 1564, Dutch and Walloon
families - the ‘Strangers’ - were invited to Norwich to produce draperies
and textiles. Contacts with the Netherlands are attested by the presence of
quantities of Dutchtype pottery and other finds including sledge runners made
from the jaw bones of two horses, recovered from fills of the barbican ditch.
Only two other fragments of such sledge runners are known from archaeological
sites (in Dordrecht, Holland and in York). This sledge is paralleled in
sixteenth-century Dutch and Flemish paintings, such as those by Pieter Breugel
the Elder.
Perhaps the most unusual find of
this date was a parrot, bones of which were found in a seventeenth-century
refuse pit. This is the first archaeological site at which parrot bones have
been recovered in England.
A small group of burials was
excavated at the top of the castle mound and appeared to comprise the remains of
seven inmates of the prison (six adults and a child) who had been buried with
little ceremony sometime during the seventeenth century. Pathological changes
were unusually abundant and indicated a high level of stress-related disorders,
as well as a concentration of head wounds.
The modern period
The continued success of Norwich
as a centre of marketing and retailing led to an organised attempt to level the
remaining elements of the castle's defences, culminating in the remodelling of
the livestock market in 1862.
Conclusion
This paper has sought to summarise
the major contributions of the recent excavations at Norwich castle both to the
study of urban fortifications and to the understanding of the city's past.
Preparation of the publication is well underway and will appear in the East
Anglian Archaeology monograph series.
Bibliography
Ayers B.S. 1985: Excavations within the North-East Bailey
of Norwich Castle, 1979, East Anglian
Archaeology 28.
Cathcart King D.J. 1991: The
English Castle in England and Wales: an interpretative history.
Colvin H.M. 1963: History
of the Kings Works I, II
Green B. 1965: Bronze Plaques from Norwich, Medieval
Archaeology IX.
Kenyon J.R. 1991: Medieval
Fortifications.
Shelley A. forthcoming: Norwich Castle Bridge, Medieval
Archaeology.
This article was first published in Military
Studies in Medieval Europe - Papers of the 'Medieval Europe Brugge 1997'
Conference - volume 11, edited by Guy De Boe and Frans Verhaeghe (Zellik,
1997). We thank Elizabeth Shepherd Popescu