Preserving the remains

If you've been past the site recently, you'll have seen that the engineers have filled in the area of the dig in preparation for the roadworks. Many people are surprised that the site is being filled in with concrete; in fact, although it may seem strange, it's the best way to protect the archaeology!

A special mix of low-density foam concrete is used, all of the archaeological structures and deposits are protected with impermeable sheeting and sensitive features are lined with protective foam boards. This is all to ensure that there's no damage caused by vibrations or compaction from the road surface and turning area above the site. When the area is redeveloped again in the future, the concrete can be easily removed to expose the archaeological remains beneath.

Our archaeologists record a fine cellar wall made from re-used stone and tile...

The walls are shielded with protective boards, then covered in sheeting before concrete is poured

There was lots of interest in the idea of a viewing area, leaving the remains exposed or visible beneath a glass panel. It's a great idea, and we're pleased that so many people have shown an interest. Although preserving exposed archaeological remains whilst ensuring they don't fall to pieces is costly and difficult, it is possible, and we always like to see imaginative ideas for presenting our city's history!

In this case, though, there was one major problem: the part of the site containing the walls, cellars and footings of old Lich Street will be underneath the road and turning area for buses/lorries. Without moving the road even closer to the cathedral (which would disturb more archaeological remains including part of the Cathedral cemetery), or bridging the area (which would raise the road surface and block the view of the cathedral), we can't avoid this. Sadly, it's just not safe or practical to have a viewing area or a void underneath the road itself.

However, everything has been safely preserved, and the dig has given us a fascinating glimpse into almost 2000 years of history in the heart of Worcester! It's not over yet, either: as the project continues, you'll see our archaeologists down there keeping a 'watching brief', recording and protecting any more archaeological remains exposed during the work.
If you didn't get a chance to come and see our exhibition at Tudor House Museum last week, some of the displays and photographs will be staying in the museum for a few more weeks.

Exhibition at Tudor House Museum

If you're interested in seeing and handling some of the finds, we'll be at Tudor House Museum on Friar Street, Worcester this Thursday 23rd July and Saturday 25th July, 10:00 - 16:00, as part of the annual nationwide Festival of Archaeology. As well as the finds, we'll have pictures from the dig and a collection of historic photographs and paintings of the area from our archives. Our specialists will be on hand to answer your questions. All ages welcome!

Bone spoon, Tudor glass and 400-year-old Dutch 'majolica' pottery from the dig

Delving into the Archives

Alongside the digging, we've been delving into our archives searching for historic images and maps of Lich Street and the surrounding area, as well as hunting through census records and trade directories to find out more about the people who lived there.
We have thousands of archive records about the county's history, covering about 12 miles of shelving underneath The Hive. Luckily, they're indexed, which helps us to find them easily!

© Crown Copyright Images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, England. Reference: RG 13 / 2278

Among the documents we've been looking at this week is the 1901 census. Here's an extract from it, with the details of 28 year-old Chimney Sweep Arthur Abbott, his wife Emily and their 4 year-old son, also named Arthur. They're recorded as living at No. 12 Lich Street, which stood on the site of Knight Frank Estate Agents. Arthur Abbott is also recorded in the trade directories for the street: in 1908, he has business premises at No. 25, and the family also seem to have run a lodging house at No. 31

Lich Street in 1886, with numbers mentioned above. Copyright Worcester City Council

We have a photo taken in 1906, looking west towards the High Street from Lich Street. The Lich gate is visible about half way along the row on the left of the photograph. On the right, you can see Arthur Abbotts sign, advertising his services at No. 25 as a Chimney Sweep and Kitchen Range Cleaner!

Lich Street looking west towards the High Street, 1906. Photographer F H Horniblow

The photograph below was taken shortly before the 1960s redevelopment of the area, and shows the rear of the houses within Court No. 2, with the rear of No. 25 in the background at the left of the picture.

The rear yards of Court No. 2, 1961. Copyright RJ Collins

There are lots of stories like that of the Abbott family buried in the archives. We'll be exploring their history, and more like them as the project progresses, and we'd love you to share your stories!

Seeing the light of day

We'd like to share some great infrared photographs of the site taken by Peter Jenner using a full frame fisheye lens, showing the early stages of the excavation of the buried cellars and some of the finds recovered from them. We hope to feature more of Peter's photos as the dig progresses.

Bottles recovered from the infilled cellars

Yard surface and well to the rear of No 2, Lich Street

The mechanical excavator has now completed its work, and our archaeologists are out in the spring sunshine carefully 'cleaning' the exposed areas. 'Cleaning' in archaeology is the process of scraping back the loose top surface of material, usually with a small pointing trowel, to reveal the subtle differences in texture and colour that mark the boundaries between different deposits - much like sanding a piece of wood to reveal the grain.

'Cleaning' the site

Once an area is clean, we begin to examine each deposit to try and understand how its composition, how and when it formed and how it relates to other structures and deposits. Sometimes, like in the case of a rubble deposit that has been tipped into a cellar, this is simple, but often the boundary between a buried garden soil, a rubbish pit or an ancient foundation trench can be marked by nothing more than a subtle change in a shade of brown!

Filling out the records

Each different wall, floor, structure or deposit gets a unique reference number, and is photographed and recorded on a 'context sheet' and a scale plan. This record is vitally important, because in many cases it is the only chance that we have to understand the site before it is lost or reburied.

Hearth within cellar at the south-west corner of Lich Street and College Street

It is strange to think that many of these cellars are seeing the light of day for the first time: in most cases, they were excavated beneath existing buildings, and were infilled when those buildings were demolished around them, only to emerge into the spring sun hundreds of years later during these excavations.

The doctor calls

Hilary Burton recalls her father-in-law Dr John Burton, a GP in a practice in the building now occupied by Zizzi's restaurant at the end of the High Street, making perilous night visits to Lich Street in the late 1940s.

listen to ‘The Doctor Calls’ on audioBoom

The condition of the stairs made visits in the dark hazardous, and some of the houses had no electric lighting. Here are the remains of one of the staircases leading down into the cellar of the buildings.

Remains of staircase into cellar, Lich Street

If you have any memories of the area, please do get in touch using the contact form . We'd love to hear your stories.

A view from above

This week, we've been up to the top of the Travelodge to get some photos of the work in progress.

Cathedral roundabout from the northeast

Lich Street itself can be seen running from the centre right to the bottom left of the picture. Either side, you can see the foundations of the buildings that once lined the street, many of which had deep cellars.

Lich Street revealed

In the foregound at the bottom of the picture, you can see the remains of a yard surface and circular well. The yards served the rear of the properties along the north edge of Lich Street and the south end of the High Street. The well would have been the only source of fresh water for many of the surrounding buildings. A small 'P' on the 1886 Ordnance Survey map marks the existence of a pump to draw water from the well.

Dig Lich Street

Welcome to the Dig Lich Street blog, which will provide information on progress, events and opportunities to find out more during the archaeological work on Worcester's Cathedral Plaza roundabout.
Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service are conducting the excavations, which are the first investigation works to support the Worcester Cathedral square improvement scheme.

Removing the topsoil using a mechanical excavator

Work began on the site earlier this month, with a mechanical excavator removing the topsoil down to the level of the archaeological remains preserved beneath the roundabout, under the watchful eye of Project Officer Richard Bradley. Our archaeologists are now in the process of clearing material away by hand to reveal the footings of the buildings that once fronted Lich Street, whilst the excavator continues to remove the remaining topsoil. Once the machinery is off-site and the archaeology has been fully exposed, there'll be chances for members of the public to take a closer look
The redevelopment work will only affect the upper levels of the archaeological deposits, but we've encountered a number of cellars, which need to be excavated fully as they contain loose, unstable rubble deposits. Most of the rubble is removed using the excavator, before final careful cleaning by hand.

Removing rubble from an infilled cellar.

Already, the finds are giving us glimpses into the earlier history of the site. One of the most common and informative types of artefact found on archaeological sites is pottery: hard-fired ceramics can survive in the ground for thousands of years, and tell us much about the fashions, technology, trade and economy of Worcester in the past.
The two examples below span 1000 years of Worcester's history. On the left is a piece of the rim of a 2nd-4th century A.D. Roman Severn Valley Ware storage jar, probably made locally: we know that there was a kiln nearby. The distorted shape and patches of grey colouration are due to mis-firing, so it's likely that this was either a 'waster', discarded from the nearby kiln, or possibly used as a 'second'. The brightly-glazed piece on the right is from a 13th-14th century Malvernian medieval jug, probably manufactured in the kilns at Hanley Swan in South Worcestershire.

Early finds from the excavation: Roman (left) and medieval (right) pottery

There'll be regular updates, and news of opportunities to find out more, on this blog. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook. There'll be opportunities to share memories of the area at drop-in sessions, and via the online form.
Got any questions? We'll be adding Frequently Asked Questions to this page as the project progresses. You can also contact us directly.