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Description

Excavations in advance of housing development at Longforth Farm, Wellington, Somerset, revealed limited evidence for late prehistoric settlement, but the principle discovery was the remains of a previously unknown high status medieval building complex. This is thought to have been a manor house and though heavily robbed, key elements identified include a hall, solar with garderobe and service wing. A forecourt lay to the north and a courtyard with as least one ancillary building and a possible detached kitchen to the south.  To the east was a complex of enclosures and pits and beyond this a fishpond. 

There was a restricted range and number of medieval finds, but together these suggest that occupation spanned the late 12th/early 13th century to the late 14th/early 15th century.  There was a notable group of medieval floor tiles and roof furniture, but documentary research has failed to identify the owners and any records relating specifically to this important building. One possibility is that it belonged to the Bishops of Bath and Wells, and was perhaps abandoned around the end of the 14th century when they may have moved to their court to within the nearby and then relatively new market town of Wellington. 

Details

Published	Published By	Pages	ISBN
Jan. 1, 2016	Wessex Archaeology	70	978-1-874350-85-9
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Copyright © Wessex Archaeology. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC-ND 4.0