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During the excavations at Leicester Square Development on Sanvey Gate a large section of the Roman town wall was discovered. This is the only faced Roman masonry from the Town Wall that has survived in Leicester. The wall had toppled forwards to the north of its foundations indicating that large quantities of stone had probably been robbed during the later medieval period. This robbing of stone from earlier Roman buildings followed a long tradition in most British towns and many of our churches and other buildings can trace their building materials to earlier structures. Documentary evidence shows that the Freeschool in Leicester used reclaimed stone in the 17th century from Saint Peter’s church which in all likelihood used stone from earlier Roman buildings nearby. Historical references to the town defences include one from the 13th century referring to the strength of the wall, and also that the town ditches could be still seen as earthworks in the 18th century.
As the wall had fallen forwards with the original northern face pointing to the ground, the facing stones were protected from robbing. It had also been used in this toppled position as a property boundary aiding its survival. The importance of this last remaining piece of town wall was quickly recognised and it was decided that it should be preserved and displayed for future generations if at all possible. The location of new buildings within the development meant that the wall could not be left in-situ but a space would be created within the site to display it to the residents of Leicester.
Although a four and a half metre stretch of wall was exposed, much was in a fragile state where the lime mortar had cracked and degraded over time. Additionally, urban expansion, neglect, exposure to weather, robbing and burial under a mill has taken its toll, and the wall was only one course thick in places! Because of this only a one metre length of wall was lifted.
Before any move to its new location could take place the wall was recorded in position, standard archaeological practice in case of the wall breaking during the move. Before the move to its display site each stone was individually labelled and recorded, in case of loss. After recording, loose fragments of the wall were removed and the remaining piece was prepared for tilting back to its original angle so that the dressed face could be seen and recorded.
The wall was strapped and supported so that the large and heavy block of masonry could be moved in a controlled fashion without any risk either to itself or the archaeologists! Once upright it could be seen that the Roman builders had taken care to select quite long facing stones that extended up to 60cm into the wall structure and it was this feature, along with the quality of the mortar, which had helped it survive so long. Despite only being a relatively small fragment the whole move was carefully planned from initial lifting to final display.
A small display area on the corner of Burgess Street and Junior Street was provided by the client so that both the residents of Leicester Square and the general public can easily view the town wall in its new setting. The wall was padded, then bound in shrink wrap and carefully placed on a rigid foam base on a pallet to support the whole of the structure. It was then carefully lifted and taken to its new home. A temporary cradle had been built ready to accept the wall which was gently manoeuvred into position before more masonry and concrete were built up around and beneath it to provide support. In the unlikely event that the wall will have to be moved again a barrier was placed between the base of the wall and the masonry cradle so that the two are not permanently bonded together.
After positioning and supporting, the wall was repointed and weatherproofed with lime mortar. Samples of the original mortar had been analysed by experts at the University of Leicester and as close a match as possible was produced. In places the Roman mortar can still be seen and, although still firm and perfectly serviceable, is noticeably darker than the new mortar after nearly two thousand years of exposure. The new mortar will gradually lose its brightness and weather to a similar colour.
The town wall may have originally been lime whitewashed during the Roman period or simply pointed leaving the stones exposed. As no evidence was found of whitewash the pointing was stabilised and the stonework left exposed.
A display board is now in place by the wall showing its location within Leicester’s Roman defences, and describing how the defences would have originally looked. ULAS are most grateful to the clients Thomas Fish & Sons Ltd. for assistance and funding in this work.
Read more about the Sanvey Gate excavations in Projects or click here
Wayne Jarvis
Field Officer
