11th Century Secrets

Date published: 03 October 2006

Archaeologists Reveal Life & Times of City's People at Christ's Lane Development

Experts from the Cambridge Archaeological Unit have successfully completed an excavation of key areas below the new Christ's Lane retail destination, uncovering evidence that the site has been occupied for almost a thousand years - since at least the 11th or 12th centuries.
The excavation at the site of the former Bradwell's Court, now being redeveloped by Land Securities, has been undertaken over the last four months, where a wealth of finds have told the tale of the site's history.
The area formed part of one of Cambridge's earliest suburbs, just outside the Medieval town. Remains of buildings, gardens and yards running alongside Christ's Lane and St Andrew's Street were uncovered. Most of these buildings had been rebuilt many times, first in timber but later in stone and brick, with the most recent ones being Victorian cellars that were filled in during the 1950s when Bradwell's Court was built. One of the cellars even had a cooking range still in place.
Among the other artefacts found were a number of wells, pottery, metal and animal bone. The archaeological team are now studying the finds to determine more about the people who were Cambridge's first 'suburbanites', how they lived and the activities they carried out.
Graham Thompson, Development Manager at Land Securities commented:
'The archaeologists have come up with some fascinating finds. Thanks to the hard work and cooperation of SDC Construction and Cambridge Archaeological Unit, both parties were able to work concurrently during the first four months of the programme and the results have rewarded everyone's efforts. With our new retail development in mind it will be interesting to

discover if we can shed any light on the shopping habits of the city's forefathers.'
Francis Shiner, Managing Director of SDC adds:
'We feel very fortunate to have built such a productive working relationship with the archaeologists, and are excited to have been able to follow the progress of their discoveries.