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By the late thirteenth century Haverfordwest was one of the largest towns in Wales and today is the county town of Pembrokeshire. Archaeological investigations within the town have until recently been small scale but have demonstrated that stratified medieval and later deposits are likely to be encountered almost anywhere in the historic core of the town. In early 2022 Pembrokeshire County Council began redeveloping what was the old Ocky White department store building within the centre of Haverfordwest.
The archaeological potential of the development site had been highlighted during the planning process, the main areas of potential being remains relating to the medieval settlement of Haverfordwest, the 13th – 16th century Dominican Friary of St Saviour which it was believed lay to the south, and general post-medieval development of Haverfordwest including a 19th to mid-20th century iron foundry.
Monitoring of geotechnical development works by DAT Archaeological Services recorded that deeply stratified archaeological deposits survived within the development area, including evidence of burials. Working in conjunction with the developer DAT Archaeological Services carried out an eight-month excavation revealing that beneath the remains of a former 19th to 20th century iron foundry were the remains of a well-used cemetery, a cemetery believed to be associated with the Dominican Medieval friary of St. Saviour’s, whose exact location had until this point never accurately been ascertained.
The remains of more than 300 burials were unearthed, as well as evidence of a first phase of friary church that we believe was replaced by a much larger range of monastic buildings following a grant in 1256; the later church lying to the south and just outside of the development area.
The first phase of church appeared to have been levelled during the later construction of the new monastic buildings, and the site had become a cemetery, which documentary sources indicate was still in use until the mid-17th century. The cemetery included many child burials, a reflection of the high infant mortality rate at the time, but also comprised both male and female adults, indicating the use of the cemetery by the town at large.
Within the remains of the first phase of friary church evidence for stone crypts containing burials was recorded, including rare evidence of a burial of a priest buried with a paten and chalice.
This has been the first major excavation within the Medieval town of Haverfordwest. It has already provided remarkable information on the development of the Medieval town and the analysis of the skeletal remains will provide unique insights into how the people of Haverfordwest lived and died, their occupations, and even where they originated from.