Cox Street - River Excavations

July 1933

COX STREET EXCAVATIONS

The excavations of river beds are always of great interest, especially on the site of old mill dams, etc. This site proved to be of exceptional interest, and no one living can really understand the make up of the ground. 'Cox Street' is quite a new name, the ancient name being Mill Lane, as the Earl's Mill stood at the end of Godiva Street, and was worked by the river formed into a dam a little further back. The city wall at one time surrounded the mill, as excavations revealed, but the Prior of the Benedictine Monastery complained that it injured his grounds to the extent of a few pounds per year, and asked for the wall to be removed, and built further back. At this time the wall was on the south side of the river, from near the Fire Station to the Mill, no doubt extending to the present wall at the south side of Godiva Street. At this time a tax of about £10 per year was due to be paid by the Prior, but he did all in his power to evade it; however at a later period payment was enforced. The river at the crossing of Cox Street was originally 5 ft. to 6 ft. lower than when the former bridge was built. It is hard to say when the making up actually took place, but quite a quantity of 13th-14th century pottery, etc., came out of the rubbish. At the end of Godiva Street stood the City Gate called Mill Gate or Bastill Gate; Mill Gate because it was the entrance to the Earl's Mill, spoken of long before the City walls were built, even as far back as 1087, when according to Doomsday a tax of 3s. was paid. - Bastill Gate, because a Hospital for old people (of which Hospital very little is known) stood about where Cope Street is now. The depth of the rubble between the Gate and the river was about 16 ft., and a large stone wall was found which might have been the boundary wall to the Mill built on wooden piles. When coming down to the old stones of the earlier City wall of 1400-4, a road made of round cobble stones was found but apparently ended at the south side of the river as no traces of same were found at the north side. The foundations were at a depth of 14 ft., and as usual, built on the solid ground.

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