ULAS
University of Leicester Archaeological Services

Windows on the Past: Excavations at 9 St Nicholas Place, Leicester, February - May 2003

2003 witnessed the largest archaeological project undertaken in Leicester for over thirty years when ULAS conducted a major excavation at the heart of the Roman and medieval town in advance of the construction of new premises for BBC Radio Leicester and the Asian Network.

Preliminary evaluation work in 2002 involved trenching in the cellars of a standing nineteenth-century warehouse, revealing two major phases of building activity dating back to the first century AD and the earliest phase of the Roman town, with walls surviving to a height of c.0.5m. The discovery of mortar floors associated with possible masonry column bases (stylobates) suggested the presence of a monumental Roman public building, as expected of a site in close proximity to the forum, as well as domestic mud brick structures that had apparently been destroyed by fire.

Following demolition and clearance of the Victorian buildings in early 2003, excavation over the ensuing months revealed extensive and well-preserved medieval domestic and industrial structures dating to the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries occupying three or possibly four tenement or building plots. The northern area was dominated by the rear of a well-constructed masonry building once fronting Swinesmarket (the present High Street) to the north. The rear wall accommodated a possible window and a doorway opening onto a yard area of successive cobbled surfaces traversed by covered drains. Attempts had seemingly been made to counter subsidence of the building into earlier pits by the construction of internal buttresses against the rear wall. The subsequent burial of the building beneath a substantial depth of demolition materials served to preserve the wall to over a metre in height. This area was also characterised by a number of granite-lined sunken structures, possibly associated with brewing or bread baking.

The southern sector of the excavation, fronting onto Guildhall Lane, produced some of the most remarkable results, dominated by the (re) discovery of a rare undercroft building dated to the late twelfth century, first observed in 1844 when its (probably timber) first-floor hall superstructure was demolished.

Finely constructed from granite and re-used Roman brick and tile, the building comprised a partially sunken rectangular box measuring around 8.5m x 4.5m and 2.5m deep, the cutting of which entailed the removal of substantial accumulations of successive Roman gravel street surfaces. Access to the undercroft was via a substantial doorway at its northeast corner, and its interior lit by four splayed, round-headed windows, their arches formed by reused Roman brick and tile. A row of niches set into the opposing wall are likely to have accommodated candles or lamps. Undercrofts are often associated with mercantile activity, in which case this example may have functioned as a storeroom and, possibly, premises for the trading of goods such as cloth, wool or foodstuffs by its wealthy merchant owner. The probable presence of a corner doorway would have afforded access for clients from the present Guildhall Lane.

A series of well-constructed fifteenth-century stone-lined rubbish pits were ranged along the northern boundary of the same parcel of land as the undercroft. The recovery from one of these features of a bone comb fragment and pottery sherds of a rare and high-status form thought to have been produced in Lincoln indicate that this property continued to be occupied by wealthy residents into the later medieval period. The St Nicholas Place excavation serves to highlight both the density and high status of occupation in this core urban area throughout the medieval period.

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