More information : (TR 15095811) Iron Age pottery, Roman ditches, a Saxon boundary, Medieval building including the Almonry chapel were discovered during excavations in the Mint Yard area in 1980.
The earliest deposits consisted layers of peat and river silt, containing late Iron Age and Roman pottery. A number of 'U'-shaped ditches and timber 'piles' cut these waterlogged levels, suggesting that from at least early Roman times attempts were made to drain the marsh. Gravel shingle and loam were dumped as part of a scheme to drive a road across the marsh. This road, metalled at least eight times was established in the last quarter of the 1st century.
In the seventh or eighth century a series of three successive
courtyard metallings and post holes perhaps indicate a Saxon boundary. A quantity of grass-tempered sherds and a Saxon bead necklace were found. These levels were sealed by a thick layer of black soil containing Saxo-Norman material.
Medieval features included deposits relating to timber-framed, clay-floored tenement properties and the remains of the Almonry chapel built by Prior Henry of Eastry between 1324 and 1328. (1-5)
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