1 Northgate Street, Warwick, Warwickshire

Between 7th and 9th August 2017 Oxford Archaeology conducted an archaeological
watching brief during the construction of a new extension in an open courtyard to
the rear of 1 Northgate Street, Warwick (SP28125 65000). The area of the
extension was 3.9m by 3m, and the area was excavated to a depth of 0.6m below
existing ground level.
The excavation did not reach the natural. All of the dated deposits that were
uncovered were post-medieval or modern, and the works did not uncover any
evidence of the Great Fire of Warwick, suggesting that they all belong after the
rebuilding of the early 18th century. No residual finds of earlier date were seen.
Beneath the western wall of the property a foundation or wall built of roughly
dressed sandstone blocks and some more carefully dressed pieces was uncovered,
but the base of this structure was not reached. It was aligned north-south and ran
along the base of the standing brick-built western boundary wall of the yard.
Historical maps appear to show that the western boundary of the property was
already in place by 1711. The date of this sandstone wall was not established, but it
pre-dated deposits that contained fragments of pottery spot dated to c. 1680-1750.
It may have been the remains of an earlier wall, or the foundation of the boundary
wall established during the rebuilding in the early 18th century.
Up against the sandstone wall was a rectangular structure built of similar sandstone
blocks and slabs set on edge, the top of which was only just revealed at the base of
the excavation. This had a reddish-brown soft clay fill reminiscent of cess, so this
may have been a cess pit or privy.
The possible cess pit and adjacent area was covered by a layer of fill containing
16th-18th century finds, indicating either a short period of use for the cess pit, or
that this fill came from an earlier deposit.
Cut into this levelling layer were the remains of a small two-roomed brick building
against the northern edge of the courtyard. Historic maps from 1887 until the 1950s
show a narrow structure across this part of the yard, and the bricks from the wall of
this structure were manufactured in the late 18th and 19th centuries, indicating that
this was the building shown. The fill of this structure was a single dump of grey silt
and pebbles, and milk bottle tops of mid-20th century date were found at the very
top.
As well as the two small rooms or cells, there was a brick plinth or pillar further
south in line with the central dividing wall, and a slight pier on the western boundary
wall in line with this, suggesting an open-fronted building. The shape of the brick
plinth may indicate that this open-fronted extension continued eastwards, but any
trace of a corresponding pillar or wall had been removed by a later wall and a
modern manhole. The modern wall, which overlay the eastern end of the tworoomed
building, did extend southwards almost to the line of the pier, so may have
been built to replace an earlier version.
Following the demolition of the brick structure in the later 20th century, a layer of
make-up was laid down, and this was followed with a yard surface of engineering
bricks.