Nash's House and New Place redevelopment

In 2015 an archaeological strip, map and record evaluation was undertaken at Nash's House, Stratford upon Avon. A monitoring exercise undertaken within a proposed extension area had highlighted previously unknown archaeological features.small part of the area was previously archaeologically evaluated (see Nash House and New Place Archaeological Evaluation 2014, Centre of Archaeology, Staffordshire University). Trial pits within the area highlighted buried archaeological deposits, but were unable to determine any diagnostic architectural or archaeological features.Trenching for an underpinning exercise for the boundary wall between Nash's House and No 21 Chapel Street was monitored by an archaeologist under watching brief conditions. This monitoring exercise revealed a significant amount of archaeological deposits and structures. The majority of the the features were dated to the 13th to 15th century. One large prehistoric pit was identified. A clearer understanding of the development of the site of New Place and Nash's house, from the origins in the prehistoric period through to the eighteenth century has been achieved through the recent excavations undertaken on the site. The results have added more to the growing corpus of evidence of occupation in the Iron Age. Specifically, the storage of grains and vegetables in circular/ oval storage pits. The archaeological evidence has increased the knowledge of the origins of this area of Stratfor-upon- Avon, which developed through the introduction of grid pattern of 1196. Houses were constructed on both sites soon after along the street frontage (Chapel Street). Within the back-plots of these properties, there was evidence of small workshop buildings and associated industrial features used for activities such as storage and processing. A clearer understanding of New Place, its layout, room function and developments has been achieved. The excavation of the areas immediately behind the frontage has confirmed that New Place was built by Hugh Clopton in the grand medieval style with a great hall around a courtyard plan. A much more detailed and accurate picture was available as a result of these excavations. The structures identified within the development site to the rear of Nash's House represented the stone plinth foundations of small timber framed outhouses lying against the boundary wall, within the passage at the rear of the property. For clarification, the results and analysis of the archaeological investigation undertaken on the site of New Place described below has been clarified and superseded by the publication: Finding Shakespeare's New Place: An Archaeological Biography, Edmondson, P, Colls, K and Mitchell, W, 2016, Manchester University Press