ABSTRACT
All of the artefacts recovered during these excavations date from the 12th century or later. Most are related directly to the construction and modification of the cathedral fabric and its use as a burial place. The architectural sculpture mostly belongs to the late 12th-century campaign, while the wall-painting and decorated architectural fragments date exclusively to the later 12th century. Sixty-seven stones with architectural carving or other decoration were recovered during the excavations, including 18 with well-preserved 12th-century painting. The evidence indicates that the first cathedral was built of finely dressed sandstone ashlar. All the fragments of late 12th-century architectural stonework, both painted and unpainted, were found as re-used material in the mid 13th-century rebuilding of the crypt, which replaced a Romanesque crypt originally built by Bishop John but remodelled by Bishop Jocelin at the end of the 12th century.
