2001_000

Annual Report 2001
the northern edge of the earlier foundations. The
eastern wing also appears to have been rebuilt
at this time as a stair tower. The extant large
double chimney breast to the west on the the
southern façade which appears on engravings,
may also be of a similar date to this phase of
rebuilding, perhaps serving a kitchen complex.
Engravings show that the former gatehouse
towers on the southern façade were retained in
this later rebuild phase.
Claustral buildings
Above: floor tiles uncovered in the cloister walk of
Leicester Abbey.
towers projecting from the southern façade of Cavendish
House, flanking the carriageway entrance through the
building, and the footings for both of these structures were
also revealed. The excavated evidence would suggest that
although the northern wall of the medieval gatehouse was
probably incorporated into this phase of construction, the
southern wall was entirely replaced.
By the late 16th century, an east and west wing were added
to the northern façade of the medieval gatehouse and
evidence suggesting that both wings were cellared was also
found.
In the early 17th-century, the northern façade of the building
with its projecting medieval porch and later flanking wings,
seems to have been flattened with the construction of a
linking wall. The only evidence for this is from the surviving
north wall itself, which respects the line of the foundations
of the postulated medieval porch, being built directly against
Two trenches were positioned within the eastern
part of the Chapter House of the Abbey. The
trenches were located in order to clarify the
position of the Chapter House walls which had been
reconstructed in the 1930s after excavation. This evidence
had been uncovered again during the 2000 season of
evaluation. One of the trenches revealed a large stone
wall footing, not corresponding to any of the reconstructed
walls. Two possible robber trenches were also recorded,
one corresponding with that seen during the 2000 season.
The second trench was excavated in an attempt to uncover
the expected continuation of the stone footings, but they
were not found. In both trenches it was evident that in
places a 1m depth of re-deposited natural gravels existed
over what is thought to have been undisturbed ground. A
single trench was excavated on the eastern side of the
reconstructed wall of the Chapter House, which suggested
that the undisturbed natural ground lay directly below the
topsoil on this side of the wall. The work within the Chapter
House would suggest that the reconstructed walls appear
to surround a structure with a reduced floor level. However,
the layout of the reconstructed walls remains open to
question with nothing of the original medieval evidence used
to set them out having survived.
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