Monument record LMD 357 - Post medieval culvert and brick wall at Melford Hall

2021: The archaeological monitoring and recording of the service trench revealed several layers of made-up ground and dumps of demolition material, containing a mixed assemblage of window glass, brick and tile fragments, shell, animal bone and metalwork, including a pulley and wire mechanism from a 19th or 20th century mechanical doorbell or servant's bell. The layers and finds give testament to the continued remodelling of the grounds around Melford Hall, incorporating material produced during life at the hall and then discarded. A fragment of a brick structure with bricks similar to those of Melford Hall located close to the South Wing could represent an situ foundation of an earlier garden wall or simply represent demolition waste of several bricks still bonded together. A culvert/storm brick drain uncovered adjacent to the South Wing wall is still in use and may date to the 16th century when the hall was rebuilt by the Abbot John Reeve, or it may have been added during later phases of remodelling and refurbishing in the 17th and early 18th centuries. No archaeological features pre-dating the construction and remodelling of Melford Hall were present. (S1).