Fascinating artefacts unearthed in Coventry city centre are hundreds of years old

Archaeology works have been taking place on Shelton Square, the Bull Yard and Barracks Car Park as part of the City Centre South scheme



Archaeologists have completed work to find historic artefacts as part of the £450m regeneration project City Centre South. Works have been taking place on Shelton Square, the Bull Yard and Barracks Car Park in Coventry.

Experts from Cotswold Archeology have spent the past month digging up parts of the city centre as they searched for items of significance, The Hill Group said. Works concluded on Friday, May 17.

Managing Director of The Hill Group, Andy Fancy told CoventryLive that they made a number of interesting finds, including a centuries-old Pilgrim Badge. Contractors have been seen on-site in recent days with the first phase of the multi-million-pound project set to begin in October.

Speaking to CoventryLive, Andy said: “We were looking for two primary things because Cotswold Archeology said there are two things that they really think they will find. One was the City Wall and also the Barracks Wall. We have found the old foundation of the Barracks and traces of the old City Wall but no remnants of it, and we have done 23 trial pits and some of them are quite long.”

Archaeologists overlayed old plans of the city when they carried out the excavation works in a bid to find the places where items were most likely to be buried. Trenches were dug on Shelton Square, the Bull Yard and the Barracks Car Park.

Among the items found were a centuries-old sewing thimble, and a Pilgrim Badge, which is worn by people who undertook a pilgrimage to a place considered holy by the Church of England. Also unearthed was a flower-shaped button, which was found on the site of the Barracks Car Park.