Untitled - Council for British Archaeology

ough stone structure straddling the lip of the pond, which would appear
to be the remains of a bridge abutment. This structure was replaced by
a dumped mass of clay forMing a ford or way across to the west.
The earlier portion of the period 7 southern range, built in two
stages, seems to have been jointed into the remains of the abutment. A
further room came north built partially over the cobbles and forming a
complex with a lean-to structure containing central supporting post, attached
to the west end of the aisled building.
Cobbled areas, then gravel surfaces were. laid over the remains of
the buildings, but post medieval activity at this western end of the
site appears to be slight.
R. Mustoe is now the site supervisor, assisted by N. James. Excavation
is continuing, and both dating and interpretation must still be
considered provisional.
WARDEN ABBEY, OLD WARDEN, Bedfordshire - Evelyn Baker, Bedfordshire
County Council and DoE
PoSt excavation re ort on the medieval tile avements
Rescue excavations at this Cistercian monastery took place in 1974.
Work was limited mainly to the ground work necessary to rehabilitate a
Grade 1 listed building, the restoration being undertaken by the Landmark
Trust. Two tile pavements of major importance were located and subsequently
removed to Bedford Museum where they have been cleaned and conserved.
The first pavement, located probably in the south aisle-of the church,
near the crossing, was discovered in 1961 by Rudd and West, (Beds. Arch.
J. Vol. 11, 1964). It is an extremely fine small scale mosaic pavement
akin-to those in the great Yorkshire houses. Its line impressed decoration
would probably bring it into the first part of the 14th CenturY,
whereas the scale of the tiny individualmosaics together with the intricacy
of the panels could belong to the 13th Century. Several different
designs are present, including,elaborate roundels, which rely mainly 'upon
white-oh-black and black-on-white reverse pattern contrast. They are
extremely sophisticated, and display great skill in design, fabrication
and laying. Each tile would need to be individually hand finished to
ensure exact shape and fit to avoid compound error which would make the
successful laying of such complex patterns impossible. The designs appear
to be unique to Warden. Unfortunately, almost all the slip and
glaze has been worn away, but it is hoped to be able to reconstruct the
colour sequence from glaze still adhering to the sides.
The second pavement, 14th Century in date, was located almost by
accident during clearance of an area whose level was to be redimed as
part of groundworks around the surviving upstanding structure. A possible
late robber trench was sectioned revealing an area of brightly
coloured medieval pavement. The extent of the room was established and
the pavement uncovered. While it had been partially damaged in the 16th
Century by being shovelled up during building activities, most of the
pavement was in situ. Unlike pavement 1, this floor retained nearly all
its glaze, slip and line impressed decoration. It is not very often that
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