At Appleby Archaeology Group’s next meeting, members and guests will find out about the medieval archaeology that was discovered under the former Roy Ashley garage when it was demolished to build Appleby’s new Co-op shop.
During the summer of 2019, Wardell Armstrong carried out a series of archaeological investigations on the site of the former Roy Ashley garage on The Sands, Appleby. Two out of three evaluation trenches did not reveal any evidence of earlier activity on the site. However, the final trench revealed a substantial wall foundation overlying an earlier kiln or oven and an area was then opened up for a wider excavation ahead of construction work for the new Co-op building.
This site has now been dated to the medieval period using finds recovered during the excavation including medieval pottery.
Appleby was an important medieval town. It was dominated by the Castle and had two centres, a planned town in Boroughgate including St Lawrence’s Church and an older settlement on Bongate including St Michael’s Church.
It also had a Friary on Battlebarrow. During the Anglo-Scottish wars of the 14th Century, Appleby was often attacked by the Scots, most notably in 1314, 1322 and 1388.
However, until recently very little was known about what the Sands was like in the medieval period. We now know that it was part of the built up area of the town.
In this talk Sue Thompson and Kevin Mounsey will discuss how they discovered the remains, and some of the problems they encountered. They will also look at what was revealed in terms of structures and artefacts and consider how this site relates to medieval Appleby.
Sue Thompson is principal archaeologist at Wardell Armstrong. She is a field archaeologist and post excavation (finds and archives) specialist with experience of maintaining watching briefs, running evaluations and excavations, and producing subsequent client reports. Kevin Mounsey is an archaeologist who is perhaps best known for his role in the excavation of the Roman Bath House at Carlisle Cricket Club.
The meeting will be held in the Supper Room above the Market Hall in Appleby at 7-30pm on Thursday, 11th May.
Talks are free to members of the Appleby Archaeology Group. Non-members are always very welcome (£5 donation).
