The site is now officially underway, and lots of interesting features have been uncovered. The north west corner of the street contains a lot of soak-aways, which are large drains used for dealing with excess water. We have identified at least 4 so far, 2 of which are brick-lined and two that are lined with horn cores. This is the first time I have seen the horn core variety, and they are impressive to behold, especially once they have been carefully cleaned.

I was working on one of the brick lined soak-aways. From the inside, all you can see of the bricks is one small face, which are known as ‘headers’. From a birds-eye, or plan view, they are stretching away from the centre of the drain, like the petals of a daisy or the spokes of a wheel. We were unsure at first if it was a cess-pit, but the large section of drain cover we found seems to have ruled that out. The drain mainly contained large pieces of rubble, bricks and paving slabs, put there to fill it in after it was out dated and no longer in use, and so it could be built over. The depth of the lining is still not sure, but we are through the rubble backfill now, and the bottom of the feature is getting decidedly more sticky and moist.