The former Eastern Electricity Offices, Norwich
NAU Archaeology was commissioned by the Targetfollow Group to carry out trial trenching to assist in defining the extent and character of any archaeological remains at the unoccupied Eastern Electricity Offices off Duke Street, in Norwich. The site is earmarked for transformation into Dukes Wharf; a mix of office and residential accommodation. It is located by the River Wensum on Duke Street, in the historic core of the city and an area known to form part of the former site of the Duke of Norfolk’s Palace. Historically, the area has been well occupied by industry, which began with the medieval textile trade of the 13th century which persisted into the 1600s. By the 19th century the site was occupied jointly by the Anchor Brewery and Duke’s Palace Iron works. By the late 19th century the Duke Street Electrical Works was established on the site of the Iron Works and gradually grew to occupy the entire site.
Although the area has been subject to modern industrial development a sequence of deep and well stratified archaeological deposits was identified by an initial window sampling survey. The natural topography of the site consists of a chalk scarp along the rear of the site sloping down to meet the peats and riverine muds which once formed open marshland at the edge of the tidal river. These deposits were sealed below several metres of dumped rubbish and consolidation deposits laid down since at least the late Saxon period.
A total of eight deep evaluation trenches were excavated across the site which have revealed a large variety of evidence for activity on the site ranging from the late Saxon to post-medieval periods. A fairly large assemblage of finds was recovered which includes residual food waste associated with a high status late medieval diet; this includes and example of porpoise or dolphin known to be one of the most expensive food items of the day. A sealed late medieval copper-alloy cup weight box was also found, which could still contain a set of nested weights used to weigh gold and silver coins. The main discoveries of archaeological interest are detailed at the links below:
Saxo-Norman Quarrying and Riverside
Anchor Brewery Foundations
Medieval Textile-processing Pits
Medieval buildings
Evidence of the Duke’s Palace
The Electric Mosaic
Giles Emery