Site of medieval market place, Horners Corner, Rochford (EHER 16379)

Excavations on the site of a 19th century shop which incorporated 15th/16th century buildings (EHER 26414) identified earlier medieval surfaces which were interpreted to be the site of the original medieval market place (see EHER 13579).

1986. Watching brief. Limited excavation and watching brief on the site of a 19th century butchers shop which incorporated two 15th-16th century timber-framed buildings (EHER 26414). Earliest levels were gravel surfaces with 13th-14th century pottery probably associated with the medieval market place. From about the 15th century structures were erected on the site and in some places as many as six superimposed floor levels from timber buildings pre-dating the current ones (15th-16th century). Classic market place infill with relatively impermanent buildings being replaced by more substantial durable ones. <1> <2> <3> The original medieval market-place (see EHER 13579) is thought to have consisted of the area of Horner’s Corner (bounded by East Street, North Street, South Street and Old Ship Lane) and the current rectangular market-place on the north-eastern end of West Street. Horner’s Corner and the eastern end of the rectangular market place have been infilled. Limited excavation within the buildings on Horner’s Corner revealed gravel surfaces dated to the thirteenth to fourteenth century, which probably represents the original market-place surface. In the fifteenth century buildings were erected on the site, and in some cases there were as many as six superimposed floor levels within a time-span of about a hundred years. The current building on this site, a nineteenth century butcher’s shop (EHER 26414 and EHER 26427), incorporates two fifteenth/sixteenth century timber-framed buildings into its structure. The results, albeit on a limited scale, represent a classic market-place infill pattern, with a series of relatively impermanent buildings replaced by more substantial structures. See EHER 13579 for more. <4> NRHE data transfer: no new information.