The Archealogical Dig

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Many thanks to the 'Wolverhampton History and Heritage Society' for letting us use this information. To find out more about Wolverhampton visit their site by following this link.

Introduction

Wolverhampton had a number of successful wool merchants, the most prominent and influential of which was the Leveson family (pronounced Leweson).

In the late 16th or early 17th century the family built a grand moated mansion house, complete with gardens and an orchard. The house was originally called 'The Great Hall' and later became known as 'The Old Hall'.

A recent excavation at the Old Hall Street Adult Education Centre has uncovered some of what remains of the north western corner of the hall and moat.

The excavation was carried out by Birmingham University's Field Archaeology Unit and a lot of interesting discoveries were made. This important excavation has given us a unique opportunity to investigate Wolverhampton's medieval past. The following description has kindly been written for us by Mike Shaw, Black Country Archaeologist.

Archaeological excavations at the Old Hall, Wolverhampton

Excavations in Wolverhampton have uncovered the remains of the Old Hall, one of the principal buildings of the medieval/early post-medieval town.

Views of the Dig.

The view of the excavation from the south. The grey soil in the foreground is believed to be former ridge and furrow plough soil, suggesting that the building was built on open farmland. On the right is a mixture of foundations of 'The Great Hall' and some 19th century buildings. The former moat can be seen at the far end of the site.

The south-eastern corner of the site showing the grey ridge and furrow plough soil and some early foundations surrounded by 19th century brick structures.

A mixture of original, and 19th century brickwork. The moat, which is on the far left had been filled in by 1842 and the building was extended as part of a Japanning works. The building originally became a japanning factory in 1767 when it was owned by Jones and Taylor. In about 1820 it was taken over by Obadiah and William Ryton and continued as a japanning works. In 1842 the company became Walton & Co.

An example of the high quality 16th / 17th century pottery that was found on the site. This shows that the building was of a high status at the time. Later pottery fragments from the japanning days are of a much lower quality illustrating the change of use of the building.

The horse's skull that was removed from the moat.

The excavation was the culmination of three years work to locate the Old Hall. Much work remains to be carried out on the finds which will be studied and conserved. The organic remains found in the moat should tell us a great deal about the local medieval environment, what plants were grown and what food was eaten by the inhabitants. When this work has been completed it will provide a unique insight into medieval life in Wolverhampton.

We would like to thank Mike Shaw for his help and contribution to this article.