-Pit 3: 31 Park Street (SK 40732 03178) -Pit 3 was excavated in a flower bed in the rear garden of 31 Park Street, on the northern side of the street and west of an alleyway leading to St Peter s Church, at SK 40732 03178 (Figure 1). Over the course of two days on 22-23 July 2017, the test was dug to the maximum allowed depth of 1m with ten spits recorded. The excavation was carried out by Brendan, Donna, and Lorcan Seward, with Jean and Ron Brown. Figure 1: Excavation of -Pit 3. Looking north-east. Figure 2: -Pit 3 post-excavation. Looking south. 1
During the excavation, c.0.3m of dark brownish-grey sandy-silt topsoil (Spits 1-3) was removed. Beneath this was c.0.4m of greyish-brown sandy-silt subsoil (Spits 4-7) and c.0.3m of greyish-orange sandy-gravel (Spits 8-10). The natural substratum, greyish-orange sand, was reached c.1m below ground level. No other archaeological features or deposits were recorded (Figure 2). In all, 304 individual finds (3.319kg) were recovered from the test (Table 1). Post-medieval and modern material was found throughout the pit and it was evident that the ground here was extensively reworked in the past. Aside from the expected array of modern building material, and modern and post-medieval china, mocha ware, earthenware (including modern flower pot), Midland yellow ware, mottled ware, slipware, stoneware, and salt-glazed ware (c.1550-present - Figure 3), the pit also contained five sherds of later medieval Cistercian ware (c.1450-1550) and a single sherd of medieval sandy ware (c.1300-1500). Significantly, no earlier pottery was found and there is no suggestion of occupation of the site pre-dating the 15th century. However, the large amount of later medieval and post-medieval pottery does suggest that activity in the vicinity pre-dates the present property at 31 Park Street, the former English Master s House which once belonged to the Dixie Grammar School and was built c.1830. Figure 3: Post-medieval pottery from TP3 (left) and a scallop shell (right). Figure 4: Human bone from TP3. Other finds included eight pieces of clay tobacco pipe. The pipe stems were mostly modern in date (c.1850-1914) but a piece of pipe bowl dated to c.1640-1660. Sixteen fragments of were also recovered, mostly 2
modern bottle, along with fifteen corroded iron nails, a modern lanyard clasp, a piece of iron slag and a piece of melted lead. Part of a scallop shell was also found (Figure 3), possibly a modern souvenir from the seaside, whilst three worked flints are evidence of prehistoric activity in the vicinity. These included a core and two secondary flakes, which are associated with the initial stages of flint working, most likely in the Neolithic period or the Bronze Age (c.4000-700 BC). A small assemblage of animal bone and a single piece of calcined (cremated) bone were also recovered. For bone to cremate it must have been heated to 650-800 C, and therefore is unlikely to be produced simply be a random process. However, it cannot be determined whether this bone is evidence of a human cremation burial (c.4000 BC AD 600) or some more recent process requiring the cremation of animal bone (e.g. bone china, fertilizer etc.). A small assemblage of human bone was also recovered from three spits (Spits 4, 7 and 8). This appeared to be residual, disarticulated material and included three phalanges, a right femur and the distal end of a left tibia (Figure 4). In the past, human bone has been found to either side of the property, beneath the lane running along the eastern boundary, where in 1965 workmen laying drains found most of the skeleton of a young woman, and at the Parish Hall to the west, where in 2013 archaeologists found a quantity of disturbed human bone belonging to at least two individuals, an adult and a juvenile. These finds have been interpreted as medieval burials, most likely from St Peter s Church to the north. Evidence from this area of Market Bosworth now suggests that the churchyard associated with St Peter s Church once extended much further south than its present limit, possibly in the medieval period extending all the way down to the frontage on Park Street, before contracting northwards to its present location sometime after the 14th century. It is probably telling therefore that pottery was entirely absent in this test on the north side of Park Street before the 15th century, in contrast to tests on the southern side of the street where occupation was evident from the 9th century onwards. Table 1: Catalogue of finds from -Pit 3. 3 1 19 3 1 1 White glazed wall tile 3 1 Pot 4 Earthenware Flower pot 3 25mm x 30mm x 3mm 3 1 Pot 3 Earthenware Post medieval 3 1 Pot 1 Stoneware + iron wash Post medieval Cup c. 1750-1770 3 1 Pot 3 China/porcelain 3 1 Glass 6 Clear curved 1-2mm thick, 1 with some iridescence 3 1 Shell 1 Scallop shell Unknown Fragment 3 1 Clay pipe 1 3 2 35 3 2 Pot 3 Earthenware Flower pot 3 2 Pot 5 China/porcelain 3 2 Pot 2 Mottled ware Post medieval 3 2 Pot 1 Earthenware Post medieval 3 2 Pot 2 Cistercian/M Black Late medieval/early post medieval 3 2 Glass 2 Clear curved 1-3mm thick 3 2 Glass 1 Pale blue curved 1mm thick, slight iridescence, handmade 3 2 Metal 1 Lead waste Unknown Melted 3 2 Metal 1 Hearth slag Unknown 3 2 Metal 3 Fe objects Unknown Fe corrosion 3 2 Metal 4 Fe objects Unknown Most likely nails, heavily rusted 3 2 Metal 1 Clasp Lanyard or swivel-hook style clasp, rusted
3 2 Clay pipe 1 3 2 3 Reddish orange tile 3 2 Bone 2 Animal bone Unknown 3 3 37 3 3 Carbon 12 Coal Unknown 3 3 Plastic 1 Moulded grey plastic 3 3 Stone 1 Flint - core Neolithic/Bronze Age 3 3 2 Earthenware 4 Fragments of pantile Broken clasp 3 3 Pot 4 China/porcelain Blue transfer printed under glaze 3 3 Pot 1 White salt glazed Post medieval c.1730-1770 3 3 Pot 2 Earthenware Post medieval Pancheon rim 3 3 Pot 2 Stoneware 3 3 Pot 2 Slipware Post medieval Notched dish rim 3 3 Pot 1 Mottled ware Post medieval 3 3 Pot 1 Midland yellow Post medieval Base frag c.1500+ 3 3 Pot 1 Cistercian Late medieval Cup handle c.1450-1550 3 3 Glass 1 Clear curved 1mm thick, slight iridescence 3 3 Glass 1 3 3 Glass 2 3 3 Clay pipe 2 3 3 Clay pipe 2 3 3 Bone 3 Animal bone Unknown 1mm thick 2mm+ thick, iridescence, handmade 2.4mm diam. bore 3 4 1 Flat red tile 85+mm x 66+mm x 17mm 3 4 1 3 4 8 Greyish blue 3 4 Carbon 21 Charcoal & coal Unknown 3 4 Pot 1 Earthenware Flower pot 3 4 Pot 1 Earthenware Post medieval 3 4 Pot 1 Slipware Post medieval 3 4 Pot 1 Mottled ware Post medieval 3 4 Pot 3 China/porcelain 3 4 Pot 1 Stoneware + iron wash Post medieval 3 4 Pot 1 Cistercian Late medieval 3 4 Bone 1 Calcined bone Unknown Ribbed handle Cup base - white body, brown clay pads c. 1450-1475+ 3 4 Metal 4 Fe objects Unknown Most likely nails, heavily rusted 3 4 Clay pipe 1 3 4 Bone 3 Animal bone Unknown 3 4 Bone 1 Human bone Unknown Phalange 3 5 BM 1 Concrete Green paint on 1 surface 3 5 7 3 5 Carbon 12 Charcoal Unknown
3 5 Pot 1 Cream/mocha ware 19th C 3 5 Pot 2 Earthenware Post medieval Coarse fabric 3 5 Pot 1 Cistercian Late medieval Rilled body c.1450-1550 3 5 Glass 2 Clear flat 2mm thick 3 5 Glass 1 3 5 Metal 4 Fe objects Unknown Most likely nails, heavily rusted 3 5 Clay pipe 1 bowl fragment Post medieval 3 5 Bone 1 Animal bone Unknown 3 6 2 3 6 Stone 1 Flint - secondary flake Neolithic/Bronze Age 3 6 Pot 1 Earthenware Post medieval Coarse fabric 3 6 Pot 1 Medieval sandy Late medieval 14th - 15th C 3 7 3 3 7 Pot 1 Earthenware Post medieval Coarse fabric 3 7 Bone 12 Human bone Unknown Front of bowl, milled rim, inside diam. 9.5mm, c.1640-1660 Right femur, distal end of left tibia, 2 phalanges 3 8 Bone 8 Human bone? Unknown Very degraded shaft fragments 3 9 Carbon 6 Charcoal Unknown 3 9 Stone 1 Flint - secondary flake 3 9 Bone 1 Animal bone Unknown 304 Neolithic/Bronze Age *BM Building Material, Ceramic Building Material **The following phasing is used in this report: Mesozoic (252-66 million years ago), Neolithic/Bronze Age (4000-700 BC), Iron Age (700 BC-AD 43), Roman (AD 43-410), Saxon (AD 410-850), Saxo-Norman (AD 850-1100), High Medieval (AD 1100-1400), Late Medieval (AD 1400-1550), Post-medieval (AD 1550-1850), (AD 1850-present) 5