Archaeological Excavation at 100 Temple Street, Redcliffe, Bristol

An excavation strategy was proposed for the site, comprising excavation centered around areas of pile cap clusters and the lift shaft base (AAL 2018). Discussions with the Bristol City Historic Environment Officer established that individual pile caps would not be included within the strip, map and record portion of the site works. The areas of excavation were set out using a survey grade GPS receiving RTK corrections. Both areas were stripped using a 360� tracked machine fitted with a flat-bladed ditching bucket, under full archaeological supervision. Following machine stripping, the stripped area was hand cleaned by a team of experienced archaeologists to expose the archaeological resource and a plan was made prior to the commencement of hand excavation. This comprised a combination of digital planning using Leica GS08 RTK NetRover GPS, photogrammetry, and hand drawn plans on permatrace, drawn at scales of 1:10, 1:20, or 1:50 as appropriate. The excavations have confirmed the location of the Law Ditch, as well as confirming the partial survival of industrial 18th to 19th century structures, previously known from cartographical sources. It has also added to our knowledge and understanding of post-medieval industry in the Temple Street area, including sugar refining and glass making. The character of the site is similar to other sites in the area, and the significance of the excavation rests primarily on the positive identification of the Law Ditch.