Forbury Gardens restoration project, Reading, Berkshire: investigations beneath the Reading Abbey cloister arch, dormitory, and outer precinct

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Reading Borough Council to undertake an archaeological investigation within the ruins of Reading Abbey and Forbury Garden (centred on NGR 471900 173600) as part of the Forbury Gardens Restoration Project. This entailed a watching brief on all landscaping works involved in the project and exploratory excavations in advance of building works. The principal aims of the archaeological works were to record and ensure the survival of any archaeological remains that were encountered during the course of the restoration work. Where archaeological features and deposits were encountered, they were cleaned and recorded by the attending archaeologist prior to being protected, usually by reburial. Slight changes were made to the proposed restoration works in order to avoid any damage to the medieval and later remains. The most significant trenches, in terms of exposing the medieval Abbey remains, were a small trench dug below the cloister arch and a soak-away pit in the dormitory. In the cloister arch this exposed parts of the original masonry facing and decorative stonework of this important route between the church and the cloister. A small area of decorated medieval tiled floor also survived. A medieval mortar floor, probably that of a cellar or undercroft was recorded approximately 2.25m below the present ground level in the dormitory.