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Site history
As developers waited in the wings, ready to transform a site in the heart of Kendal, experts embarked on a search for hidden secrets beneath the land.
A dedicated team from the Lancaster-based Oxford Archaeology North set up camp last October to undertake a carefully orchestrated dig on land off Stricklandgate for the first phase of an extensive archaeological project.
Their exploration was a condition of planning consent before Maple Grove Development's vision to create an array of shops, apartments, offices, parking and a public piazza could go ahead. The venture, poised to change the face of Kendal, is focused on the land behind The Westmorland Gazette and on neighbouring plots from behind the Liberal Club to Entry Lane and Lower fellside.
Signs of medieval life were unearthed during that search after the team put in random trenches at various locations around the site. Archaelogical supervisor Mark Bagwell said the team was carrying out its evaluation by digging on about five per cent of the site.
Explaining that houses and shops would have fronted onto Stricklandgate when it was developed during the 13th and 14th centuries he said: "There would have been plots behind the street frontage with latrines and rubbish pits. Ideally, that's what we would like to find."
Within two days of digging, a Victorian pit and well were discovered, while the team also unearthed a large 19th century basement in a trench behind Body Care. Pieces of 13th century pottery were also uncovered about two metres beneath the surface.
Mr Bagwell said that the excavations had identified clay floors, hearths and pits within medieval burgage plots, which fronted onto Stricklandgate - one of the main historic arteries of the town.
Medieval soil horizons producing 12th and 13th century pottery assemblages were recorded in two of the trenches at the site at between two and three metres below ground level.
Most trenches revealed signs of domestic dumping in later years, suggesting the site had been used for rubbish disposal - probably from the surrounding town - from the 17th century onwards.
Mr Bagwell said some of the dump layers had produced "surprisingly large" assemblages of high-status pottery, including tin glaze wares. Revetment walls, a well, cobbled surfaces and what could have been a garden path suggest the site may have been used for horticultural purposes at various times, with 18th century and 19th century maps of Kendal depicting regular rectangular garden plots and paths.
After the initial three month search, archaeologists have been poised to explore different sections of the site as they become available - such as when existing buildings, like the Gazette's garages, are torn down - as well as to monitor the removal of various dump layers.
"We are fitting in with the various phases of development, and we are mostly looking for evidence of medieval life," said Mr Bagwell. He stressed the importance of such a dig, explaining: "It is a very big plot of land and we need to find out more about medieval and post-medieval Kendal.
"There's very little known about its development from the 15th century through to the 17th. This is one of the best opportunities there has been to find out more for quite a long time."
Further evaluation trenching phases will be undertaken throughout the year, and Mr Bagwell said the team remained "hopeful" of making a significant discovery.
Reproduced courtesy of The Westmorland Gazette,
'New Horizon', Friday, March 14, 2003
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