Rewriting the story of Roman Worcester.

In August 2008 excavations began on the site of the Worcester Library and History Centre, due to open in 2011. The former Worcester City Council depot had been the home of bin lorries for many years, but construction starts in 2009 on the new development that will include Worcester City Library, Worcestershire Record Office, Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service, and the Worcester Customer Service Centre. The library will also house the University of Worcester Library, and is next to the University’s new campus on the Royal Infirmary site.

WHEAS investigated the site a few years ago and although access was restricted by buildings and vehicles, a number of small evaluation trenches were opened. These showed a thin spread of Roman deposits, with some areas where a deeper sequence of layers had built up. This led to the conclusion that a lot of buried archaeological deposits would be affected by construction work, and one area of the site was identified for full excavation.

Following initial clearance, it was clear that the eastern part of the excavation area contained the foundations of Victorian buildings, a wide 17th century ditch, and a Roman ditch and trackway. The western area contained more extensive Roman deposits. A row of three 4th century buildings, a large aisled building (10m x 20m) and two ‘strip buildings’ were the most recent buildings in a complex sequence of  Roman occupation.

The buildings front onto an east-west street, running to a quay, or a previously unexpected river crossing. The evidence points to The Butts being an important area within the Roman small town of Worcester. There was intensive commercial activity, with evidence for craft production and small-scale industry. Detailed analysis will be needed before the economic basis of these households is known. The excavation has already produced an enormous assemblage of artefacts, and this is likely to continue as the team excavate earlier layers beneath the aisled building.

Over 200 local people took part in the excavations during the first ten weeks of the the project, and many more visited the site for tours or to see the exhibition of information and finds. Since mid-October the work has been continued by professional archaeologists from WHEAS but the excavation will stay open to the public till the end of 2008, Monday to Friday (10am to 4pm).

Further information on the plans for the project and progress, can be found on the Worcester Library and History Centre project website: http://www.wlhc.org.uk/index.html

Information on the historical and archaeological background is available here: