Site Event/Activity record EEM14168 - 2007/2008: WB - Dovery Manor

A watching brief was undertaken during works Dovery Manor, including landscaping of the garden area, the replacement of the present kitchen / toilet block with a modern building, the insertion of a new doorway connecting the upper museum and snooker rooms and major refurbishment of the museum space and displays. No features of particular archaeological interest were noted during garden works in September 2007. Demolition of the modern annexe and reduction of the ground area to c.40 cm below the medieval foundations occurred prior to the watching brief taking place. The make up of the foundations was recorded; no evidence of a plinth was noted. A bread oven was also uncovered. It was suggested that the fireplace, stair turret and east wall of the building were contemporary as the stones between their junctions were carefully bonded together. A door was also inserted through an upstairs wall. This identified that the earliest phase of the building sat on the site of the present snooker club. The main wing was added to the building at a later date. The removal of plaster revealed the remains of a blocked window (thought by Chadwyck-Healey to be a doorway). During the removal of stones to form the doorway, a complete medieval roofing slate was retrieved, which had been used to level a stone in the wall. Evidence for the structural timberwork of the floor of the upper museum room at its eastern end was noted.