british and irish archaeological bibliography
An Archaeological Trench Evaluation at Old Priory Garage, Market Road, Plympton, Devon, Revision 1 [Site name: OLD PRIORY GARAGE, MARKET ROAD, PLYMPTON
Study area: 0.1ha
Investigation type: Evaluation
District: Plymouth UA
Monument: CULVERT. Undated, LINEAR FEATURE. Undated, WALL. Undated
Ngr: SX53705640
Parish: Sparkwell
Postcode: PL7 4JR]
Pages:
14; refs
Authors:
Publisher:
Published:
2006
Abstract:
An archaeological evaluation at Old Priory Garage was undertaken. The site lay within and adjacent to Scheduled Monument No. 24847, an area that formed part of the grounds of the former medieval Augustinian priory at Plympton. The owner of the property was considering the possibility of developing the site by erecting a series of small homes within the Scheduled area. In addition, it was proposed that a workshop in the south-east corner of the site would be converted to residential use. Plympton Priory was established as an Augustinian Foundation in AD 1121, although it was likely to have been located on the site of an earlier Saxon minster that was first recorded in AD 904. At its height the medieval priory was the fourth wealthiest Augustinian House in the country. The priory church was located immediately north of the present site and was excavated in 1957/58, when five different phases of construction were identified. The cloisters and chapter house to the priory were likely to be south of the former church and partly within the boundaries of Old Priory Garage. The priory was disbanded as part of the Dissolution in 1539. A ground probing radar survey across most of the site was recently carried out, with the work revealing a number of sub-surface anomalies at varying depths, which may have represented walls and other structural remains. The trench evaluation comprised five trenches totalling 18.5m in length, with each trench 1.2m wide. This work revealed evidence for structural activity associated with the former priory, including a wall foundation in the north-west corner of the site, likely to be part of the inner wall of the cloister alley. Other structural evidence revealed included a stone culvert and a large linear feature that was probably a robber trench in the position of the southern inner cloister wall. Within the central area of the site a substantial demolition deposit was exposed, which contained a section of remnant walling faced with intact painted wall plaster with text and scroll decoration. Trenches excavated in the eastern portion of the site revealed no evidence for intact archaeological activity pre-dating the post-medieval period. [Au(abr)]
Source description:
14pp, tabs, refs
Dataset:
Coverage:
2006