Old Priory floors walls and food remains

What this record tells us

Post-excavation work covered the 1979-81 excavation and building survey, with the Pinsley Mead gas-pipe trench also to be included. The standing complex contains part of the monastic reredorter and infirmary over a watercourse; the earliest phase was assigned to the 12th century, most surviving medieval fabric to the early 14th century, and parts of two monastic fishponds were located in Pinsley Mead.

Additional research and clarification, 26 September 2026 Building recording, salvage work and small-scale excavation revealed a sequence of walls and surfaces from the medieval Priory and its later uses. The investigation connected surviving fabric with buried deposits rather than treating the building and archaeology as separate subjects. Pottery, floor tile and biological remains accompanied the structural sequence.

Among the finds were 189 fish bones, almost all recovered by wet-sieving. Their survival in the report illustrates how recovery methods change the story: small food remains are easily missed by hand collection. The published account is a much firmer source for medieval activity than the earlier stories of giant skeletons and long tunnels.

How this record is evidenced

Map location

Source and further reading