MEM22272 - Possible medieval Cloister north of St George's Church (Monument)

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken north of the main Church building in 2009, to monitor the excavation of trenches to contain new cable ducting. During the excavation, a probable wall foundation was noted, which was 0.6m below the modern ground level and had a visible extent of 1.00m wide. It seemed to be aligned north-south and was constructed of a core of randomly deposited angular sandstone rubble bonded by a matrix of pale brown lime mortar, bounded to the west by remnants of facing of squared sandstone blocks up to 0.40m in width. The feature's full width could not be determined as it was obscured to the east by the construction of the existing stone wall forming the eastern boundary of the garden, which was thought to be constructed around or before the 1760s. The probable wall foundation was similar in construction and the size of its remains to walls excavated in 2007 to the west of the Tithe Barn, which were dated to the medieval period. It was therefore suggested the foundation was in itself medieval and, due to its position and orientation, may form the western limit of the Priory's cloister. [1] Excavations undertaken on behalf of Time Team Digital as part of the Dig Village project in 2018 noted a stone wall with no discernible or visible construction cut, with a clay bond. It appeared to correspond in form to walls discovered in earlier test pits immediately east and southeast and it was suggested that it may form the outer face of a cloister associated with the relict Priory of Dunster; whilst it may otherwise be related to post-medieval gardening activity here, it is possible that a medieval cloister wall was reused for this purpose. [2]