This trench was located on the grassed area to the north of the East Entrance. A trial trench dug here in 2000 had suggested that a good sequence of post-Roman deposits survives in this area and that Roman masonry belonging to the amphitheatre superstructure also survives.
A complete series of deposits was excavated from Roman foundation deposits up to the older line of Little St John’s Street, moved to its present position in 1957. The significance of these results is that, for the first time, a complete succession of archaeological deposits showing the history of the site has been excavated using modern recording techniques. Beginning with the construction of the Roman amphitheatre, it is now possible to document its abandonment and dereliction, ‘Dark Age’ re-use, the gradual robbing of masonry for use elsewhere and the evolution of properties on the site up to the clearance of the 1950s.
One of the most significant discoveries was that part of a staircase leading up to the seating of the amphitheatre had survived. Two steps remained in place, although the bottom steps had been removed in the nineteenth century and the side walls that supported them in the seventeenth century. The steps belong to the late third century redesign of the monument: the original staircases were reached along a short stretch of corridor, but this had been filled in during the late third century and the new steps started at the very doorway into the building. Intriguingly, although evidence for ‘Dark Age’ occupation inside the shell of the building had been found in 2000, no indication of medieval occupation has been found to date. It was also surprising to learn that large parts of the Roman masonry had survived above ground level right up to the seventeenth century. This may indicate that the medieval occupation of the site made use of surviving Roman walls, perhaps with little alteration. |
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