Time Team - Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire - Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results

Wessex Archaeology

Investigation into the Chantry Chapel revealed possible evidence of the preparation of the ground prior to the building of the Cathedral in 1220 in the form of a large chalk raft, laid down to create a dry working platform and to stabilise the ground, and possible evidence of an earlier cemetery of 1219. The buttresses of the 1220 construction were revealed and were clearly disturbed by the construction of the Beauchamp Chapel. The base of the walls of the Chapel and four burials associated with the 15th century construction were exposed. The empty graves of Bishop Beauchamp and John Cheney, whose tombs had been moved inside the Cathedral when the chapel was demolished, were identified, as was a grave possibly belonging to the Bishop’s brother William. The fourth grave (previously believed to be that of Bishop Beauchamp) was investigated although the identity of the individual remains unknown.

The Bell Tower investigation revealed evidence for the early 13th century workshops or dwellings of the Cathedral workmen sealed beneath ground preparation deposits of the Tower. The Tower itself had been extensively demolished with no evidence of the worked stone facing of the walls remaining. Evidence of its later use as an inn was identified. Work within the grounds of the Cathedral School revealed evidence of structures, possibly part of 18th century stables.