Phase Five of the Dovehouse Excavations began in August 2009. So far dozens of children have worked enthusiastically to uncover an amazing range of finds and features in what appeared to be an abandoned C17th graveyard.
There were several unusual structures. One, constructed of bricks looked like the base of a well but was too small for this. It is likely it was a sump - a place for all the unwanted water to go in the floor. Dumped in it were some ornamental bricks and a huge broken vase probably from the Walled Garden. Another was also found and their pedestal bases obviously thrown away when they were broken. The bricks represented different parts of an ornate brick house with pillars, window mullions and moulded decorations probably of the C16th or C17th. Some were numbered.
A number of floor surfaces and brick foundations were uncovered and it seems likely that they were the base of funerary monuments next to the graves of which there were three. One was empty of human remains but a sheeps skull was discovered much the same as last year. Evidently this had been a good place to dispose of unwanted animals.
Of the other two graves, both went out of the sections so we had the lower part of one and the upper of another. The lower limbs were incomplete with only one foot and no shin bones and one of the fibulae were curved with disease. Last year we uncovered a priest with the same problem so perhaps they were related!
The upper body had
no skull, one humerus was missing and the bones were highly jumbled about.
The mandible, clavicles and pelvis told us it was a man and the teeth told
us it was an adult who ate a good diet. No fillings, plaque or cavities.
The wisdom teeth were erupted so probably someone over 30-35. The bones
were in good condition.
In both graves the bones had been covered over with peg tiles and it was obvious that the brick coffins had been dismantled. There was evidence of wooden caskets from coffin handles and large nails. Evidently the ground level had been massively reduced and whatever building that was close by dismantled.The disturbed bones were then laid back roughly where they came from minus a few - perhaps having been smashed by accident.
A complete roman style pot was discovered with a single gold coin inside and is a bit of a mystery. The coin is not roman and the pot in very good condition. Perhaps next year we can shed some light on it. Most of the other coins recovered were mediaeval of the C12th and C13th.
Lastly we found a large number of padlocks and pintle hinges and I get the distinct impression that a large stables was dismantled and dumped here in the early C20th.
Barry Hillman-Crouch
MStPA DipFA BScHons HND.
