Site and Post-Excavation Data from an Archaeological Evaluation and Excavation at Temple Laugherne Phase 1, West of Worcester, Worcestershire, 2020-2022

This collection comprises images, spreadsheets, and geospatial datasets from an archaeological evaluation and excavation carried out in by Worcestershire Archaeology between 2020 and 2022 on land at Temple Laugherne Phase 1, West of Worcester, Worcestershire (NGR SO 382607 255974). It was commissioned by Orion Heritage on behalf of their client, in advance of a proposed residential development (West of Worcester Urban Extension). Planning permission has been granted subject to a programme of archaeological works. The evaluation was largely on a grid array, though with two areas within the southern half of the field having a higher concentration of trenching, where trenches were aligned to target geophysical anomalies. Within one of these areas, a number of medieval features were proven, which correlated broadly with the geophysical results. Subsequent excavation was targeted at this area of medieval activity, and has revealed a medieval hamlet with at least four earth-fast built structures in the form of posthole alignments and beam slots. These sat within plots, and one was associated with two pits filled a large amount of charred grain. The ephemeral nature of the buildings suggested that the settlement had been short-lived, and this was supported by the pottery evidence which also suggested a 13th to 14th century date. A more notable feature was a more substantial building, aligned east to west and just beyond the other buildings, which was interpreted as a chapel, as corroborated by later field-name evidence. Such a simple medieval chapel, otherwise undocumented, is a rare discovery. A medieval key was also found in the same vicinity. This building came to be set within its own enclosure, and this long influenced the laying out of later field boundaries and a trackway, remnants of which remained into the 19th century