Yards 110and 112 Stricklandgate, Kendal, Cumbria. Archaeological Excavation Assessment Report.

Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) was commissioned by Acorn Developments (Kendal) Ltd to undertake an archaeological excavation between 22nd April 2003 and
13th May 2003 on land to the rear of 104-112 Stricklandgate, Kendal (SD 5144 9296). The excavation was undertaken in advance of the determination of a planning application (reference 5/01/0636) by South Lakeland District Council. The proposed development area, comprising both buildings and car parking to the rear, covers an area of c 0.1ha.
The work followed on from an earlier evaluation undertaken by Lancaster University Archaeological Unit (LUAU) in August 2001. The excavation was designed to investigate the eastern part of the development site, indicated in the evaluation to be of greatest archaeological potential. Pits of various sizes were revealed, which seem to have been either quarries or used for rubbish disposal, and in addition there were two
stone-lined latrines; all of these produced a range of predominantly medieval domestic pottery. The artefacts, coupled with the interrelationship of the cut features, provided a datable stratigraphic sequence representing two broad phases: the earliest phase was dated to between the late twelfth to mid-fourteenth centuries, and the second phase dated to the later fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. The activity formed three distinct groups on east/west alignments to the rear of 104, 110, and 112 Stricklandgate,
probably representing activity in the tails of three east/west burgage plots fronting Stricklandgate. A post-medieval phase at the site was represented by eighteenthnineteenth century features and an horticultural soil horizon.