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The New Palace Yard and Its Fountains: Excavations in the Palace of Westminster 1972-4
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 April 2011
Extract
Excavations in the New Palace Yard at the Palace of Westminster, between 1972–4, have illuminated the development of this historic site on the northern periphery of the medieval palace. The Yard was first laid out in the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century over previously marshy land at the edge of Thorney Island. In the central area of the Yard, part of the foundation of a magnificent fountain, known historically as the Great Conduit was found. Built in the mid-fifteenth century, the conduit formed a major landmark until its demolition some two hundred years later. Preserved within its foundation were the fragmentary redeposited remains of a high quality fountain of polished Purbeck marble, dated to the late twelfth century. Due to the enormous scale of the building works significant environmental evidence was recovered allowing elucidation of the topographical development of this important site, from the prehistoric period to the creation of the Yard in the late thirteenth century.
This paper is published with the aid of a grant from the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England.
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- Research Article
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- Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1989
References
Notes
1 The archaeological investigations in the Yard were conducted by Brian Davison, Inspector of Ancient Monuments. The site records were resorted and analysed by Valerie Horsman, Museum of London, who also prepared the initial drafts of this report. The report presents the joint views of the authors.
2 DAMHB, Interim Report of the Archaeological Investigations in the New Palace Yard, 1972-74, copy lodged in archive. (See also note 21, below.)
3 Davison, B. K., ‘Royal palaces, medieval Britain in 1972), Medieval Archaeol 17 (1973), 174.Google Scholaridem, ‘A carved fragment of Purbeck marble from a late twelfth-century fountain in the Palace of Westminster’, Antiq. J. 55 (1975), 399Google Scholar.
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6 Ibid., I, 545-6 citing E 101/468/15.
7 Ibid., II, 1043, Appendix D citing E 101/468/15. Paragraph 35 kindly retranslated by Colin Taylor, Museum of London.
8 Ibid., II, 1043, Appendix D.
9 Ibid., I, 507 citing E 101/468/21, fol. 121v.
10 Ibid., I, 506 citing E 101/468/21, fol. 116v.
11 Ibid., 1,535 citing E 101/472/14, enrolled as E 372/211 rot 50.
12 Ibid., I, 509 citing E 101/472/14 and E 372/211, rot 50, 212, rot 41; 527-33; 547 citing E 101/470/18; 548 citing E 364/31 rot F. Cf. J. Hunter in Archaeologia 37 (1857), 23-6.
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28 PRO E 101/473/18, PROE 101/303/12, fols. 4 and 5. Kindly transcribed and translated by Colin Taylor, Museum of London.
29 Hodelston stone was quarried in Huddlestone in Yorkshire. It is a white magnesian limestone of fine grained, distinctively crystalline texture. Although soft when cut, this stone hardens on exposure makin g it especially suitable for the achievement of fine and sharply cut detail. It was extensively used in south-east England from 1300, being incorporated in Richard II's refurbishment of Westminster Hall in the 1390s. Caen stone was quarried in Normandy. It is also a white limeston e much suited for mould-ings and carving. It was often used in great ecclesiastical and secular buildings from the eleventh century.
30 A similar fountain with a battlemented facade, erected at least 150 years earlier in th e City of London, is described by Stow in his Survey of London, op. cit. (not e 13), 1,17; ‘The first Cesterne of leade castellated with stone in the Citty of London, was called the great Conduit in west Cheape, whic h was begunne to be builded in the year 1285, Henr y Wale s being then Mayor…’ See also Keene, D., Cheapside before the Great Fire, (London, 1985)Google Scholar.
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36 Ibid., 1, 549 quoting Rot. Litt. Claus. i (Rec Comm.), 140b.
37 A lavatorium in medieval usage can be either a free-standing structure or may be built into or attached to a wall. If the fountain fragments foun d in 1973 d o represent the remains of th e lavatory mentioned in the king's hall in 1183- 5 J they provide a rare example of a free-standing structure of this type within a building.
38 Colvin, , op. cit. (note 4), 1, 549Google Scholar quoting Clos e Rolls 1242-7, 272-3; Cal Liberate Rolls 1240-5, 239, 248; 503-4 quoting Close Rolls 1242-7, 273.
39 Ibid., I, 549 quoting E 101/467/17 and 19.
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