ABSTRACT
This paper is based upon a report submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a scheme to reveal the hidden medieval kitchen within St Mary’s Hall. As a result of the research which was conducted to help inform the proposals, a new interpretation of the development of hall and its associated buildings emerged. The assembly of the site on which the hall was built in the mid-14th century is presented in detail for the first time. The traditional view of two main phases of construction (mid-14th century and late 14th/early 15th century) has been upheld, but the sequence of actual building events has been radically revised and the later phase extended. It is suggested, for example, that the entrance to the main hall was moved from the west side to the east, associated with a new gateway. As a result, part of the relatively new kitchen was absorbed to provide the approach stairs and landing.
