Introduction

This section of the wall was just over 105 metres long and ran south from the south side of Pockthorpe Gate to the bank of the river where there was a round tower.  About 50 metres of the wall survives at the south end and stands in parts to a maximum height of 4.5 metres.  The wall is at most 790mm thick and has lost much of the facing flint when houses built against the wall on either side in the 18th and 19th centuries were removed. [1] Archaeological excavations have uncovered the substructure of the wall which is much more substantial and goes down to a depth of at least 2.4 metres below the present ground level.  This is significant because other sections of the wall elsewhere in the city have been shown to have virtually no substructure with just shallow foundations filled with layers of compacted mortar and flint.  The depth of the lower part of the wall can be explained, in part, by the presumed width and depth of the outer ditch on the east side of the wall.  Medieval documents indicate that barges were moored here and the ditch had to take substantial amounts of water draining off higher ground to the north and east of the city. Documents from the 16th century suggest that the whole ditch from St Martin's Gate drained to the east.

Four relatively large chunks of flint wall stand on the site of the tower but archaeological evidence suggests that these are modern though the lower part of the tower with a doorway on the inner side with a brick surround and brick threshold were revealed in 1987.

The whole of the surviving part of the wall is now within the Jarrolds Printing Work and is on private property. [Map 01/01] Access to the public is not generally possible.  We are grateful to the company for allowing full and open access to the site for the completion of the survey and this report.