Medieval suburb of Bridge End, Warwick

1 The suburb of Bridge End developed at the southern end of the Medieval Old Castle Bridge (WA 1963) at a road junction and crossing point. The suburb, which was cleared and bypassed during the expansion of Warwick Castle Park in the 18th century, is known to have contained a number of sites of particular archaeological interest, including a chapel (WA 1954, WA 7858), and a 12th century preceptory of the Knights Templar (WA 1960, WA 5521). Details of Bridge End’s extent are uncertain, though it is represented schematically on Post Medieval maps, and some features, including the old road (WA 4615), and possible sites for the chapel and preceptory, survive as crop marks in Castle Park. Some excavations have taken place within the suburb (see eg. WA 3797, 8252, 8315.)
2 Find of a papal bulla in the Bridge End area of Castle Park in 1995. No specific grid reference was given and the method of recovery was not recorded.
3 A pit and a probable property boundary ditch, which may have extended to the earlier London Road were recorded during archaeological observation at 7 Brooke Close, Warwick.
4 Observation in Brook Close recorded a medieval sandstone wall foundation, at least one medieval roadside ditch and at least one medieval pebble surface, possibly associated with the former London Road (MWA4615), which crossed the rear of the site, or with a nearby yard. A post-medieval pebble surface was also recorded.
5 Portable Antiquities Scheme find provenance information:
Date found: 1998-04-30T23:00:00Z
Date found: 1999-07-31T23:00:00Z
Date found: 1999-11-01T00:00:00Z
Methods of discovery: Metal detector