4.20.26 Mitchell's Brewery, Lancaster

Mitchells Brewery, Lancaster.

Work has recommenced on the post-excavation analysis of evidence recorded during excavations undertaken in 1988-89 and 1992, funded jointly by Sun Alliance and EH. This analysis will examine the development of the site from its inception in the late first century AD until the end of the Roman period and beyond, with evidence of the growth and decay of the medieval town. Remains on the site provide an interesting contrast between the changing purpose and function of individual structures and the rigidity and longevity of property divisions which can be followed from the first phase of Roman activity until the present day.

Large-scale excavation within the historic centre of Lancaster is unusual, and this site provided a rare opportunity to examine the complete stratigraphic sequence within the town. The earliest structural remains, dating to the end of the first century AD, comprised several timber buildings, including part of a large L-shaped building at least 18m long, and possibly associated with horticulture, suggested by the presence of lazy beds in the near vicinity. The scale of buildings on the street frontage was reminiscent of military structures in the region, perhaps indicating the deliberate and organised construction of the early extra-mural settlement, rather than ad hoc growth.

Mitchells Brewery, Lancaster

After this there was possibly a break in occupation, and certainly a change of function when, in the third century, metalled alley-ways and yards were laid over the earlier buildings. These were probably flanked by timber structures. The site seems to have been abandoned in the middle of the fourth century, at the very time when a substantial naval fort was erected elsewhere in the town, but whether there was any connection between the two actions remains a matter for speculation. A large assemblage of Roman material was recovered; two artefacts are of particular interest: fragments of a white pipeclay theatrical mask, and part of a gold necklace, incorporating two ducks' heads in its design, possibly of Eastern Mediterranean origin.

Analysis suggests that the latest Roman structures were overlain by dark-earth deposits and that, despite evidence from elsewhere in the town for early-medieval activity, the site remained undeveloped until the medieval period (twelfth century), when the old Roman road again became a major thoroughfare, oriented on the castle which was erected on approximately the same site as the Roman fort. Medieval activity was characterised by rubbish pits, wells, and a single post line, representing the back of a building on the street front; together these deposits have produced more pottery than has previously been recorded from the whole of Lancaster.