Salisbury Museum,

The King’s House

Test Pit Excavation 2017

June 2018

wessexarchaeology
© Wessex Archaeology Ltd 2018, all rights reserved.

Portway House
Old Sarum Park
Salisbury
Wiltshire
SP4 6EB

www.wessexarch.co.uk

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Document Information
Document title Salisbury Museum, The King’s House, Salisbury, Wiltshire
Document subtitle Test-pit excavation for the 2017 Festival of Archaeology
Document reference SMU17.1

Client name Salisbury Museum

Address The King’s House, 65 The Close, Salisbury, Wilts SP1 2EN

Site location The King’s House, Salisbury

County Wiltshire
National grid reference 414137 129471
Museum name Salisbury Museum
Museum accession code TBC

Date of fieldwork 22–23 July 2017

Fieldwork directed by Phil Harding
Project management by Linda Coleman (Quality Director), Rachel Brown (Senior Community
and Education Officer), Jon Kaines (Project Manager)
Document compiled by Phil Harding
Contributions from Lorraine Mepham (finds)
Graphics by Rob Goller

Quality Assurance
Issue and date Status Author Approved by
1 27/06/18 Draft issued to client PAH
 Salisbury Museum, The King’s House, Salisbury, Wiltshire
Test-pit excavation for the 2017 Festival of Archaeology

Contents
SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................II 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................II 
1  INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................1 
1.1  Project background .........................................................................................................1 
1.2  The site ............................................................................................................................1 
1.3  Archaeological background .............................................................................................1 
2  AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................................3 
3  METHODOLOGY .....................................................................................................................3 
3.1  Fieldwork methodology ...................................................................................................3 
4  ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESULTS..............................................................................................3 
4.1  Introduction ......................................................................................................................3 
4.2  Stratigraphy .....................................................................................................................3 
5  FINDS .......................................................................................................................................4 
5.1  Introduction ......................................................................................................................4 
5.2  Pottery .............................................................................................................................4 
5.3  Ceramic Building Material ...............................................................................................5 
5.4  Clay Tobacco Pipe ..........................................................................................................5 
5.5  Glass ...............................................................................................................................5 
5.6  Stone ...............................................................................................................................6 
5.7  Animal Bone ....................................................................................................................6 
5.8  Other Finds ......................................................................................................................6 
6  DISCUSSION ...........................................................................................................................6 
7  STORAGE AND CURATION ...................................................................................................7 
7.1  Museum ...........................................................................................................................7 
7.2  Preparation of the archive ...............................................................................................7 
7.3  Selection policy ...............................................................................................................7 
7.4  Security copy ...................................................................................................................8 
7.5  Copyright .........................................................................................................................8 
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................9 
APPENDICES ..................................................................................................................................10 
Appendix 1: Context descriptions ...........................................................................................10 
Appendix 2: Quantification of finds by context ........................................................................11 

List of Figures
Figure 1 Site location, GPR results, test pit plan, section and photograph

List of Plates
Front cover 1799 sketch by E Wickens (by permission of Wiltshire Museum)
Plate 1 Section viewed from the west (on Figure 1)

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SUMMARY

A 1 m square test pit excavation was dug in the front garden of the King’s House, Salisbury as part
of the Festival of Archaeology 2017. The simple excavation was designed to relocate a former gate
house, known from survey documents of 1649 and a sketch of 1799. This genuine research project
also provided an opportunity to communicate the archaeological process to the general public.

The excavation demonstrated that the foundations of the gate house, which comprised mortared
Chalk rubble blocks, were cut through layers of made-up ground that contained medieval roof tile.
A clay pipe bowl in the backfilled foundation trench indicated a construction date of 1640–50,
coincidental with the English Civil War. The gate house superstructure was faced with limestone
and flint, infilled with a chalk rubble core. The basal courses of the wall were abutted by garden
soil. Documentary evidence records demolition in the early 19th century, a date broadly supported
by artefacts from the test pit.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The 2017 project to search for the gate house was initiated by Adrian Green, Director of Salisbury
and South Wilts Museum. Thanks are also extended to Owain Hughes, Learning Officer at the
museum for his continued support and enthusiasm.

The preliminary geophysical survey was undertaken for Wessex Archaeology by Rok Plesničar
and Becky Hall, with contributions from Tom Richardson, Nick Crabb and Lucy Learmonth. The
test pit was excavated by Phil Harding with the finds processed and presented by Lorraine
Mepham.

The text of this report was compiled by Phil Harding with the finds report compiled by Lorraine
Mepham. The graphics were prepared by Rob Goller. The project was managed at Wessex
Archaeology with contributions from Linda Coleman, Quality Director, Rachel Brown, former Senior
Community and Education Officer and Jon Kaines, Project Manager.

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Test-pit excavation for the 2017 Festival of Archaeology

Salisbury Museum, The King’s House, Salisbury, Wiltshire

Test pit excavation for the 2017 Festival of Archaeology

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Project background

1.1.1 The Festival of Archaeology is an annual nationwide event that aims to promote
archaeology to the general public in a series of events and open days. The occasion
provides an opportunity to inform people what archaeology is all about. Many people
remain unaware of the processes of excavation, observation, recording and interpretation
during an excavation as a means of ‘telling the story’ of the site. Despite this ‘digging’
epitomises what ordinary people consider archaeologists do. As a result, a ‘dig’, within a 1
m sq test pit, was included in the programme for 2016 at the rear of the Museum. This
excavation aimed to communicate the ‘process’ of archaeology; the textures, colours,
sounds and character of layers, the information that they contain and the way in which this
information is analysed to ‘tell the story’.

1.1.2 Excavation, recording, and interpretation were presented to the public and the finds were
used to show that even mundane objects can be interesting. This approach, to bring
archaeology to the people as it happens, the use of test pit excavations to demonstrate
archaeology and the idea that interesting archaeology is contained within most back
gardens borrows much from ideas that were championed by the late Mick Aston and
trialled by Channel 4’s Time Team.

1.1.3 The success of the 2016 project prompted a proposal that a subsequent phase of work
should be undertaken; to search for a ‘long-lost’ gate house at the front of the King’s
House. This genuine piece of excavation, also within a 1 m test pit, would replicate the
approach adopted on larger more complex excavations.

1.2 The site

1.2.1 The King’s House forms the premises of the Salisbury and South Wilts Museum which is
located less than 100 m west of Salisbury Cathedral, in the city of Salisbury, Wiltshire.
The test pit was located in the front garden of the museum (NGR 414137 129471) (Figure
1).

1.2.2 The former gate house fronted directly on to the Cathedral Close at 47 m above Ordnance
Datum (aOD). This area is currently covered with lawns, flower beds and pathways
surrounding the museum. The solid geology is mapped as Chalk, Marl and Flint of the
Newhaven Chalk Formation with overlying Alluvial deposits of clay, sand, and gravel
(BGS 2017).

1.3 Archaeological background

1.3.1 The King’s House is a Grade 1 Listed Building and acquired its name following visits by
King James I of England in 1610 and 1613. It was erected in the 13th or 14th century, but
was extensively remodelled in the 15th and 17th centuries (RCHM 1993). The east front is
of two storeys with an attic, built partly of rubble stone and flint with stone dressings and
partly brick with stone dressings. The original older part of the house has three stone

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gables, each with one 3-light stone mullioned leaded casement. The south gable is partly
blocked by a modern southern range. Some early elements remain, including the early
15th-century moulded porch arch.

1.3.2 The house formed the original Prebendal residence of the Abbot of Sherborne. Following
the Reformation the property passed to a number of wealthy tenants including Thomas
Sadler, Registrar to Bishops of Sarum, who entertained James I. The tenancy passed to
Sadler’s son, also Thomas Sadler, in 1634, who occupied the premises until his death in
1658.

1.3.3 The Parliamentary Survey of 1649 provides documentary evidence of the gate house,
describing the structure as having ‘a chamber above it’. The survey adds that the
courtyard was defined by a high stone wall, capped by a ‘handsome’ rail (RCHM 1993). A
slightly more informative source is provided by a 1799 drawing, held in the library of
Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, of the King’s House by E Wickens (Front cover). This shows
a square structure with a Gothic stone-lined arch, apparently of mixed chequer-board
construction, possibly using stone and flint, with a crenellated parapet and gable end
pierced by a single window. A small annexe is shown against the south wall and the front
wall is apparently much reduced in height.

Recent archaeological investigations in the area

1.3.4 Wessex Archaeology monitored building work at The King’s House in 2013, which
included compiling a photographic record of two walls prior to their removal. Excavations
were made in the garden at the rear of the King’s House by the Avon Valley
Archaeological Group (AVAS 2010) as part of the Festival of Archaeology 2010. This
small excavation recorded a sequence of garden soils dating from the 17th century and a
garden path, but were of insufficient depth to expose the natural gravel. The subsequent
Festival of Archaeology Test Pit 2016 (Wessex Archaeology 2018) refined this sequence,
recovering basal deposits that included 13th-/14th-century make-up layers, above which
the succession of 17th- and 18th-century garden soils was repeated with more recent
landscaping.

1.3.5 The project to rediscover the ‘lost’ gate house was preceded by two geophysical surveys.
A magnetic survey (Wessex Archaeology 2016) was conducted across the site in July
2016. Strong ferrous responses, resulting from nearby buildings, made it impossible to
identify any archaeological features. A supplementary ground penetrating survey (GPS)
was undertaken (Wessex Archaeology 2017) across an area of 0.08 ha. This survey
covered 0.05 ha to the rear of the museum (Area 1) and 0.03 ha in the gardens at the
front of the building (Area 2).

Ground penetrating radar survey results

1.3.6 The survey across Area 1 detected traces of a right-angled anomaly, which were
insufficiently conclusive to indicate whether they represented robbed building foundations
or modern drains. The results from Area 2 were more positive and featured a rectilinear
pattern of anomalies that were clearly visible to the south east. The anomalies, which
were consistent with those produced by building foundations, were aligned north – south
and approximately 0.50-0.60 m below the ground surface. They varied in width between
0.5-0.60 m and could be traced to a depth of 1.2 m. They reflected the anticipated location
of the gate house precisely. Similar, less well defined, responses were identified to the
north, where they were apparently covered by demolition rubble. The survey also revealed
a network of drains.

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2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

2.1.1 The 2017 Festival of Archaeology test pit aimed to confirm the position of the gate house.
A test pit, 1 m sq, was considered to be of sufficient size to support the interpretation of
the geophysical survey. The information obtained offered the opportunity to reflect the
condition, survival and construction of the structure. Recovered artefacts could clarify the
construction of the gate house and confirm the date of its demolition.

3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Fieldwork methodology

3.1.1 The 1 m sq test pit was positioned over the rear, western, wall of the postulated gate
house, avoiding obvious drains. Precision was essential to sample not only the exterior
façade of the building but also any foundation trench, to recover associated artefacts
related to construction, and to locate earlier deposits within the courtyard.

3.1.2 All excavation was undertaken by hand. Spoil and turf were stored separately at the side
of the test pit for reinstatement at the conclusion of the work. All records were compiled
using Wessex Archaeology’s standard pro forma recording system with plans and
sections drawn at scales appropriate for the work. A digital archive of photographs was
also maintained. The test pit was positioned using GPS equipment loaded with
coordinates calculated from the geophysical survey and resurveyed and levelled at the
completion of the work.

3.1.3 The work was recorded using the site code SMU17, and carried out over two days, 22–23
July 2017.

4 ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESULTS

4.1 Introduction
4.1.1 Figure 1 shows the plan and west-facing section of the test pit after excavation. Full
descriptions of the excavated contexts are given in Appendix 1.

4.2 Stratigraphy
4.2.1 The test pit was located within a mature, well maintained lawn that was rooted in dark
brown, virtually stone-free clay silt (001), 0.08 m deep. A clear contact separated this
horizon from an underlying deposit of dark grey-brown silty loam (002), which contained
fragments of bottle glass, roof tile and mortar. This deposit, which was 0.20 m deep, was
much disturbed by roots and earthworms. The layer contained fragments of demolition
rubble providing evidence of the destruction of the gate house in this part of the site.

4.2.2 The gate house wall (006), with underlying foundations, was exposed in the east part of
the test pit. The wall was abutted by an additional layer of grey brown silty loam (003)
garden soil, which graded into the overlying deposit. Flecks of mortar were present that
had infiltrated down from the upper layer through earth worm activity. This garden soil,
approximately 0.30 m thick, could be traced to the top of the wall foundation trench [007].

4.2.3 Three courses of the gate house wall (006) survived, faced with roughly dressed, coursed
limestone blocks, that were interspersed with knapped flint nodules and very rare brick,
tile or Greensand inserts. The central wall core was constructed of chalk blocks infilled
with beige gritty mortar.

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4.2.4 The underlying foundations comprised a series of irregularly coursed and roughly dressed
chalk blocks, up to 0.17 m, which were bonded in beige gritty mortar. They were placed
within a trench [007], which extended approximately 0.65 m below the garden soil (003)
and was cut with vertical sides and a flat base. The foundation trench was backfilled with
soft grey brown silty loam (004) and which contained a clay pipe bowl dated c. 1640–
1650.

4.2.5 The foundation trench was cut through a series of make-up layers (005) composed of
compact grey silty clay interspersed in places with intermittent bands of medieval roof tile
(CBM) with chalk and mortar. This deposit, which constituted building debris used as hard
core, was not fully excavated.

5 FINDS

5.1 Introduction
5.1.1 The test pit produced a small assemblage of finds, ranging in date from medieval to post-
medieval. The finds belong to types which occur commonly across the city, but the
proportion of domestic refuse (pottery, clay pipes, glass, animal bone, shell) is markedly
low, with the majority of the assemblage consisting of building materials (ceramic and
stone). Some of the latter may represent the demolition of the gate house, or material
derived from other alterations to the King’s House, but some may represent an early
make-up/consolidation layer.

5.1.2 All finds have been quantified by material type within each context, and the results are
presented in Appendix 2.

5.2 Pottery
5.2.1 Twenty-nine sherds were recovered (weighing 446 g), of which one was of medieval date
and the remainder post-medieval.

5.2.2 The single medieval sherd, recovered from garden soil layer (003), was a Laverstock-type
glazed fineware. These wares were produced at the Laverstock kilns outside the city from
the second quarter of the 13th century into the early 14th century and probably beyond.
The sherd was undiagnostic, but almost certainly belonged to a jug.

5.2.3 One sherd, a topsoil find, is of a type which appears to be transitional between the
Laverstock-type wares of the Salisbury area and the post-medieval Verwood industry of
east Dorset. This ‘early Verwood’ ware occurs in Salisbury in contexts associated with
Raeren stoneware and ‘Tudor Green’ ware, and is thus dated to the 15th/16th century.

5.2.4 Later Verwood wares are represented (seven sherds), alongside redwares of uncertain
source (two sherds), German stoneware, probably from Frechen (one sherd), white salt
glaze (five sherds), creamware (nine sherds) and pearlware (three sherds), demonstrating
a development from earthenwares and stonewares of the 17th century through to the
refined wares of the 18th and 19th centuries.

5.2.5 The German stoneware (17th century), from foundation trench fill (004), supports the
dating for the gate house wall’s construction given by the clay pipe (see below). The
garden soil (003) clearly contained a chronological mix of wares, the latest being
creamware (mid-18th to mid-19th century), while the demolition layer (002) also contained
creamware, along with pearlware (19th century, from c. 1800).

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5.3 Ceramic Building Material

5.3.1 Ceramic building material (CBM) dominated the assemblage (112 fragments, weighing
8194 g). This total included three fragments of brick, all apparently from unfrogged forms,
two found in topsoil (001) and one in garden soil (003). Brick was rarely used in
construction in Salisbury before the 17th century, but it may be noted that there is a
documented early use of brick in an early 17th century extension to the King’s House.
These examples could date from this phase, or later.

5.3.2 There was also one fragment from a plain, unglazed floor tile, probably of medieval date,
from make-up layer (005).

5.3.3 The remainder of the CBM, however, consisted of fragments of roof tile, and most of these
were of medieval date. One glazed ridge tile was identified amongst the roof tile (from
demolition layer 002), but otherwise all fragments appear to derive from flat peg-tiles. The
peg-tiles were typically handmade in poorly-wedged, pale-firing clays with prominent iron
oxides occurring as red/brown pellets, and were often glazed over the lower third of the
tile (the visible part, after tile-hanging). Peg-tiles were almost certainly made locally; one
source is documented at Alderbury from the mid-14th to the late 15th century (Hare 1991),
but either this or some other local source must have been supplying the city from its
foundation, as roof tile fragments appear from the earliest levels. Ridge tiles are more
likely to have been made in the same place as pottery (unlike peg-tiles), and the
Laverstock kilns, for example, were producing these from the 13th century (Musty et al.
2001, 173–5, figs 72–3).

5.3.4 More than half the total number of roof tile fragments were recovered from the lowest
layer excavated (005), and all of these tiles were of medieval type, supporting the
hypothesis that this layer represents medieval make-up, perhaps to consolidate low-lying
ground prone to flooding. It may be noted that several fragments of tile from this layer
were overfired. While this would not have precluded their use as functional tiles, it may be
that these fragments include some waste from tile production, redistributed as hard core.

5.3.5 The construction cut for the gate house wall (004) contained some tiles of later (early
post-medieval) date, while all other tiles in upper layers were medieval, residual in post-
medieval contexts.

5.4 Clay Tobacco Pipe

5.4.1 Eight fragments of clay pipe were recovered, seven from the construction cut for the gate
house wall (004) and one from topsoil. All but one were plain stem fragments. The
exception was a complete bowl from layer (004), which provides crucial dating evidence
for the construction of the gate house. The bowl is of mid-17th-century form, and carries a
heel stamp with the maker’s initials TM, with two dots above, in a heart. The maker is
unknown, and could have been working in Salisbury, Marlborough, or some other centre,
but parallels are known from Salisbury, dated c. 1640–50 (Atkinson 1970, fig. 1, no. 5,
appendix A).

5.5 Glass
5.5.1 Seventeen fragments of glass were recovered, of which 14 probably represent a single
vessel from demolition layer (002). This comprised the base of a mould-blown green glass
wine bottle of cylindrical form, dating from c. 1770/80 to c. 1810/20 (Dumbrell 1983, 31–2,
100–1). This fits well with the documented demolition date of the gate house in the early
years of the 19th century. The owner of the King’s House at this point was reputed to own
a good wine cellar, and it is tempting to see this bottle as part of its contents.

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5.5.2 One other wine bottle fragment (broadly dated as later 17th or 18th century) was found in
the topsoil, alongside a modern clear bottle/jar fragment. One fragment of pale blue
window glass came from garden soil layer (003).

5.6 Stone
5.6.1 Six pieces of stone were recovered, all building material. One is a piece of flint, shaped for
use in walling; flint was extensively used for building in medieval and later Salisbury and
the surrounding area, and examples can be seen, for example, in parts of the King’s
House.

5.6.2 One large limestone slab-like piece (30 mm thick) from layer (004) was probably used for
flooring or paving.

5.6.3 The other four fragments are from limestone roofing tiles, recognisable from their bevelled
edges. The use of stone for roofing is uncommon in Salisbury, where most of the roof tiles
used from the medieval period onwards were ceramic. Three of the fragments came from
layer (005), associated with medieval roof tiles, and the fourth from layer (004).

5.7 Animal Bone

5.7.1 Of the total of 22 bones recovered, roughly half were identifiable to species. These
consisted largely of cattle and sheep/goat. Body parts are mainly meat-bearing (long
bones, calcaneum, scapula). Several fragments show butchery marks (sawn cuts).

5.8 Other Finds

5.8.1 Other finds comprise a small quantity of oyster shell (three shells), and six iron objects
(five nails and one drainpipe fragment).

6 DISCUSSION

6.1.1 The results of this relatively limited exercise have confirmed that a combination of
geophysics, excavation and documentary evidence can produce positive results from very
limited effort. This specific project set out to relocate a gate house that was known to have
marked the entrance to the King’s House. The successful rediscovery has made it
possible not only to observe construction details of the building but also to evaluate the
survival and condition of these archaeological remains. More importantly, it has
established the date of construction, which can be discussed in relation to contemporary
national events. Artefacts were recovered that supplement documentary evidence for the
demolition of the gate house and that also serve as comparative data with projects at the
museum.

6.1.2 The results of the work demonstrated that the gate house was constructed within an area
of made-up ground. Similar deposits were noted at the base of the 2016 test pit (Wessex
Archaeology 2018) and have been recorded elsewhere throughout the city (Wessex
Archaeology, 2014). This process provided a foundation layer for buildings in the city
making it possible to overcome the instability of the River Avon flood plain alluvium. It was
impossible to date the deposition of these foundation deposits; no pottery was recovered.
However an excavated sample demonstrated the inclusion of demolition rubble, especially
medieval roof tile.

6.1.3 The base of the gate house foundations was probably located on the flood plain gravel of
the River Avon. This deposit provided the necessary firm base for most important
buildings in the Close, including the cathedral itself. The test pit demonstrated that the

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foundations were of an impressive scale, and supported a solid structure that was
undoubtedly funded by an equally impressive budget.

6.1.4 The construction date of the gate house was established by a stamped clay pipe bowl that
could be assigned to the period c. 1640–50. The 2017 test pit confirmed that the structure
was built using materials and architectural style that mirrored the King’s House, without
brick. Reconstruction of detail relating to the superstructure can be gleaned from the
illustration of 1799 in collaboration with the description provided by the Parliamentary
Survey of 1649. Some detail remains hidden; there is nothing to indicate how the upper
room was accessed, or visible evidence of supplementary accommodation apart from the
outhouse attached on the south side. No gates are apparent on the 1799 illustration,
although these may have been regarded as obsolete by that date, only five years before
the structure was dismantled. These observations suggest that the gate house may
therefore have provided no more than a gated entrance arch.

6.1.5 The period of construction coincides with the tenancy of Thomas Sadler II but also with
the English Civil War. This may hint, given the date of construction and prevailing political
climate, that the gate house was constructed in response to this conflict and served a
practical purpose; to safeguard those inside the King’s House or to restrict access for
those outside. It was not a decorative folly. It may have become obsolete and in need of
renovation by 1804 when it was ‘taken down’ (Salisbury Journal, 2 July 1804). This date
matches the archaeological evidence which included the base from a mould-blown green
glass wine bottle of cylindrical form, dating from c. 1770/80 to c. 1810/20 which was found
in associated demolition rubble.

7 STORAGE AND CURATION

7.1 Museum
7.1.1 The project archive, which is currently held at the offices of Wessex Archaeology in
Salisbury, will be deposited in due course with the Salisbury Museum, under the site code
SMU17, and in combination with the archive from the test pit excavated in 2016.

7.2 Preparation of the archive

7.2.1 The archive, which includes paper records, graphics, artefacts and digital data, will be
prepared following the standard conditions for the acceptance of excavated
archaeological material by Salisbury Museum, and in general following nationally
recommended guidelines (SMA 1995; CIfA 2014; Brown 2011; ADS 2013).

7.2.2 All archive elements are marked with the site code, and a full index will be prepared. The
physical archive currently comprises the following:

 1 cardboard box of artefacts, ordered by material type

 1 file of paper records and A4 graphics

7.3 Selection policy

7.3.1 Wessex Archaeology follows the guidelines set out in Selection, Retention and Dispersal
of Archaeological Collections (Society of Museum Archaeologists 1993), which allows for
the discard of selected artefact and ecofact categories that are not considered to warrant
any future analysis.

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7.3.2 In this instance, the finds belong to types already well represented and well documented
within the city, and earlier excavations have provided good datasets of this material, in
particular pottery, animal bone, ceramic building material, glass and clay tobacco pipes.
This small assemblage adds nothing new to the known material culture of Salisbury, and
as such does not warrant retention for long-term curation. Selected items, however, will be
offered to the museum for teaching purposes (e.g. marked clay pipe, glass wine bottle).

7.4 Security copy

7.4.1 In line with current best practice (e.g. Brown 2011), on completion of the project a security
copy of the written records will be prepared, in the form of a digital PDF/A file. PDF/A is an
ISO-standardised version of the Portable Document Format (PDF) designed for the digital
preservation of electronic documents through omission of features ill-suited to long-term
archiving.

7.5 Copyright
Archive and report copyright
7.5.1 The full copyright of the written/illustrative/digital archive relating to the project will be
retained by Wessex Archaeology under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 with
all rights reserved. The client will be licenced to use each report for the purposes that it
was produced in relation to the project as described in the specification. The museum,
however, will be granted an exclusive licence for the use of the archive for educational
purposes, including academic research, providing that such use shall be non-profitmaking,
and conforms to the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003. In some instances,
certain regional museums may require absolute transfer of copyright, rather than a
licence.

7.5.2 Information relating to the project will be deposited with the HER where it can be freely
copied without reference to Wessex Archaeology for the purposes of archaeological
research or Development Control within the planning process.

Third party data copyright

7.5.3 This document and the project archive may contain material that is non-Wessex
Archaeology copyright (eg, Ordnance Survey, British Geological Survey, Crown
Copyright), or the intellectual property of third parties, which Wessex Archaeology are
able to provide for limited reproduction under the terms of our own copyright licences, but
for which copyright itself is non-transferable by Wessex Archaeology. Users remain bound
by the conditions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 with regard to multiple
copying and electronic dissemination of such material.

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 Salisbury Museum, The King’s House, Salisbury, Wiltshire
Test-pit excavation for the 2017 Festival of Archaeology

REFERENCES

ADS 2013, Caring for Digital Data in Archaeology: a guide to good practice, Archaeology Data
Service & Digital Antiquity Guides to Good Practice

Atkinson, D R 1970 Clay tobacco pipes and pipemakers of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Wiltshire Archaeol
Natur Hist Mag 65, 177–89

AVAS 2010 Report on the excavation at the rear of Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, July
2010: an investigation by the Avon Valley Archaeological Society. Unpublished archive
report Avon Valley Archaeological Society

British Geological Survey [NGS], Geology of Britain online viewer

http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyof britain/home.html [accessed 31 May 2017]

Brown, D H 2011 Archaeological Archives: a guide to best practice in creation, compilation,

transfer and curation. Archaeological Archives Forum (revised edition)

CIfA 2014 Standard and Guidance for the Creation, Compilation, Transfer and Deposition of
Archaeological Archives. Chartered Institute for Archaeologists

Dumbrell, R 1983 Understanding Antique Wine Bottles. Woodbridge, Antique Collectors’ Club

Hare, J N 1991 The growth of the roof-tile industry in later medieval Wessex, Medieval Archaeol 3,
86–103

Musty, J, Algar, D J, Gerrard, C and Hadley, J 2001 Pottery, tile and brick, in P Saunders (ed.),
Salisbury Museum Medieval Catalogue Part 3, 132–212

RCHM 1993 Salisbury. The Houses of the Close. London, HMSO

SMA, 1995 Towards an Accessible Archaeological Archive, Society of Museum Archaeologists

Wessex Archaeology 2014 Salisbury Bus Station, Salisbury, Wiltshire: results of an archaeological
trial trench evaluation. Unpublished client report, ref. 106740.02

Wessex Archaeology 2016. The Salisbury Museum, Salisbury, Wiltshire. Detailed Gradiometer
Survey Report. Unpublished Wessex Archaeology Client Report Ref. 15009.02

Wessex Archaeology 2017. Salisbury Museum, Salisbury, Wiltshire. Ground Penetrating Radar
Survey Report. Unpublished Wessex Archaeology Client Report Ref. 15009.01

Wessex Archaeology 2018. Salisbury Museum, The King’s House, Salisbury, Wiltshire.Test-pit
excavation for the Festival of Archaeology. Unpublished Wessex Archaeology Client Report
Ref. 17039

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 Salisbury Museum, The King’s House, Salisbury, Wiltshire
Test-pit excavation for the 2017 Festival of Archaeology

APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Context descriptions

Context Context Type Description Depth (m)

001 Layer TOPSOIL: Dark brown clay silt, virtually stone free. 0-0.08
002 Layer DEMOLITION: Dark grey brown silty loam with assorted mortar, bottle 0.08-0.38
glass and CBM
003 Layer GARDEN SOIL: Grey brown silty loam with mortar flecks and angular
flints
004 Fill FOUNDATION BACKFILL: Grey brown, crumbly silt loam with
occasional flints. CBM and clay pipe
005 Layer MAKE-UP: Compact grey silty clay with CBM, chalk and mortar
006 Wall WALL CONSTRUCTION: Three courses of roughly dressed limestone
facing with flint, brick and Greensand inserts and chalk infill over
foundation of irregularly coursed, mortared chalk blocks
007 Cut FOUNDATION TRENCH: West side of foundation trench with vertical
sides and flat base

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 Salisbury Museum, The King’s House, Salisbury, Wiltshire
Test-pit excavation for the 2017 Festival of Archaeology

Appendix 2: Quantification of finds by context

Context Material No. Wt Comments

1 animal bone 2 11 unidentified
1 CBM 19 878 2 post-med brick; 17 medieval roof tile (2 glazed)
1 clay pipe 1 7 plain stem
1 flint 1 847 walling flint, mortared
1 glass 1 40 modern clear bottle, rectangular
1 glass 1 4 post-med green wine bottle, late C17+
1 iron 1 432 (drain)pipe fragment
1 iron 2 9 small nails
1 pottery 2 177 post-medieval: redware, glazed
1 pottery 1 28 early post-med: early Verwood C15/C16
2 animal bone 4 53 sheep + unidentified
2 CBM 9 511 medieval roof tile; 1 glazed ridge tile
post-med green wine bottle: base of squat cylindrical, c.1780-
2 glass 14 664 1830
2 pottery 4 58 post-med: Verwood
2 pottery 5 19 post-med: creamware (C18)
pearlware (2 transfer printed, 1 blue feathered edge): late
2 pottery 3 7 C18/C19
3 animal bone 10 182 cattle (calcaneum); sheep (scapula, astragalus)
3 CBM 3 312 medieval roof tile
3 CBM 1 1257 brick (roughly half); unfrogged, handmade, C18+
3 glass 1 5 post-med window glass (pale blue)
3 iron 2 55 large iron nails (masonry)
3 pottery 3 65 post-med: Verwood
post-med: white salt glaze (3 diaper patterned moulded plate
3 pottery 5 27 rims), c1720-60
3 pottery 4 36 post-med: creamware (C18)
3 pottery 1 10 medieval: Laverstock-type fineware (C15-C15)
3 shell 1 17 oyster (L valve)
4 animal bone 4 83 cattle, sheep (1 sawn)
4 CBM 20 1695 medieval to early post-med roof tile; 1 glazed, 1 complete width
6 stems, 1 bowl with heel stamp TM below dots in heart
4 clay pipe 7 23 (c.1640-50)
4 iron 1 31 nail adhering to flint
4 pottery 1 19 post-med: German stoneware C17
4 shell 1 17 oyster (R valve)
4 stone 1 645 roof tile, bevelled edges (corner); shelly limestone
4 stone 1 2522 shelly limestone slab, probably flooring (c.30mm thick)
5 animal bone 2 44 unidentified
medieval: 1 floor (unglazed), 41 roof, 2 glazed, 4 overfired, 2
5 CBM 60 3541 with iron nails adhering
5 shell 1 9 oyster (L valve)
5 stone 3 670 roof tile; shelly limestone

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 Test Pit

Ground penetrating radar

survey area

Archaeological feature
St. Mary’s 129600 Possible archaeological
Cathedral
feature
Test
pit Probable service
King’s House

129400
The Close
Riv
rAe
414000

416000

King’s House
von

0 200 m 0 10 m

Rubble core

E W

007
Facing S

001

Plate 002
tones

Wall 006
Wall 006
003

005
Line of section Chalk
foundations 004

007

0 0.5 m

Limestone
Greensand
Chalk
Flint
Brick

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2018
This material is for client report only © Wessex Archaeology. No unauthorised reproduction.

Date: 29/06/2018 Revision Number: 0

Scale: @ A4 Illustrator: RG

Path: Y:\Users\Rob Goller\For_phil\Salisbury_museum.ai

Test pit location with GPR results, and plan, section and photograph of the test pit Figure 1
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