Medieval floor surface and other features, 168-170 High Street (EHER 14753)

A watching brief recorded a clay floor which was probably associated with a substantial timber-framed building, as well as a probable road-side ditch, post-holes and late 13th/early 14th century finds.

1988. Watching brief. Observed features included a probable road-side ditch, slots or post-holes and two possible floor levels, one greenish and the other yellowish clay. Pottery finds included a sandy grey ware and a shell-tempered sherd and were dated to the later 13th or early 14th century. The yellowish clay floor was probably associated with a reasonably substantial timber-framed building. This building no doubt stood for several centuries, the clay floor being succeeded by suspended ones, as the next event evident in the section was the make-up, walls and demolition debris from the row of cottages, dated to the mid 19th century, which were demolished in 1987. The greenish layer compares with that excavated at the Chequers in 1987 (EHER 14755) which was dated to the 11th-12th centuries. If correct, this is of interest in that it indicates that probably the entire length of the High Street from the Hythe to the Burh was built up at an early date. <1>