Finchale Priory, County Durham: Archaeological Watching Brief during Installation of Interpretation Panels

In May 2025, The Archaeological Practice Ltd was commissioned to carry out a programme of archaeological monitoring at Finchale Priory, County Durham, on behalf of English Heritage Trust. The scheme aimed to mitigate the potential impact of groundworks associated with the installation of three new interpretation panels across the site. Finchale Priory is a designated Scheduled Ancient Monument (Finchale Priory Benedictine cell: hermitage, monastic precinct and site of priory watermill); NHLE no. 1007561. It comprises of a small monastic complex of medieval origin, located around 5 km north of Durham City. Scheduled Monument Consent (SMC-HE ref: S00246792 - Appendix 1) required for the scheme, included a condition specifying that a professional archaeologist should supervise the works, recording any finds or features revealed. Three small excavations for single-post mounted panels were monitored (keyed to Illus 04-05): - in the nave of the priory church (No. 5); - adjacent to the prior's lodgings (No. 3); - near the first monastic buildings, facing the 'wishing chair' (No. 2) The dimensions of each excavated post-slot were on average 0.26m (length N-S) x 0.26m (width E-W) x 0.55m (max depth). The monitoring concluded that no archaeological finds or features of any kind were revealed during the works, therefore there was no detrimental impact to the Scheduled Monument at Finchale Priory during the scheme. Each post-slot encountered fairly concentrated layers of stone fragments [202, 302, 502], revealed beneath the topsoil. This has been loosely interpreted as either a possible working level associated with historic construction at the Priory, or from more recent consolidation work, conducted by the Ministry of Works in the 20th century. No further archaeological monitoring is required during this scheme. However, it is recommended that any future works in the vicinity of the Scheduled Monument should be considered on their own merits with regard to potential archaeological intervention.