Shrewsbury
Posted on 03/23/2007 1:37:02 PM PDT by blam
Norman House find
Contractors working on the £12 million revamp of Shrewsbury’s Music Hall have made a startling discovery after uncovering a Norman house within its structure.
An archaeological evaluation of the site has revealed that Vaughan’s Mansion, which was originally thought to date back to Tudor times, is actually a defensive house which could be 800 years old.
Councillor Charles Armstrong, portfolio holder for leisure, said the Music Hall was a “time capsule of history” and said the shock discovery would lead to the Mansion becoming a key focal point for the whole scheme.
Dominic Wallace, partnerships and development manager at Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council, said part of the house was uncovered following digs at the site.
He said: “The Music Hall is eight buildings wedged into a 2,500 sq ft footprint in the town centre. “Located inside this foot print is what was believed to be a Tudor manor house but what we have discovered during phase two of the project is that it is actually significantly older.
“Archaeological studies have revealed Vaughan’s Mansion was registered in 1300 but we believe it would have been built in the 1200s as a Norman defensive house, of which there are only a handful in the country. “The building has a first floor and retraceable stairs and the proposal now is to return Vaughan’s Mansion partly to its original state.”
Mr Wallace said the team was investigating the viability of ripping out the boiler house and toilet block next to the Mansion so the house could be fully exposed to the public along with a neighbouring courtyard.
He said: “The house could be even more Norman than the Castle because of all the repair work carried out to it. This could well be the oldest bit of kit we have in the town and we didn’t even know about it.”
Mary White, museums manager for SABC, said: “In terms of its structure this is a very exciting discovery.
That's really cool.
Norm's house? does Vera know about this?........
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Seems like it may have been the victim of a 14th Century "Extreme Makeover".
Oh, not Oklahoma.
It's still legal for an Englishman to shoot a Welshman from the Walls of Shrewsbury with a longbow, though these days it's trickier as they tend to be in cars. . . . :D
Heh, my first thought, too!
That area of England is just next door to Wales, and there were skirmishes back and forth across the border from time to time, which might explain the need for a 'defensive' house. It also could harken back to the time of the civil war, late in the 12th century, between supporters of the Empress Maude, the daughter of Henry I, and his heir, after the death of Henry's only son, and those of Stephen of Blois, who was, I believe a nephew to King Henry I, Apparently, some of the barons didn't want to be ruled by a woman, and put out the story that Henry changed his mind at the last minute and named Stephen as his heir.
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I read the whole Brother Caedfel series and thoroughly enjoyed it; so much so that when we made our first and only trip to England we spent a day in Shrewsbury. Most of my family had never heard of the place, but all agreed that the day in Shrewsbury was a high point of the trip.
There was a helluva show on the History Channel the other night about the Knights Templars and their forts/castles along the Med coast of Syria/Israel.
Some of them have been enfolded within more modern structures and parts of them were then 'lost' because they weren't being used by their modern dwellers.
"There Be Dragons"
My husband and I stayed at a bed and breakfast in an old rectory just outside of Shrewsbury. It was a lovely town. Best breakfast we had on our honetmoon :)
I saw that some time back, I agree, it was very good. I'll watch it again when it comes on.
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