Medieval wall found under Lincoln's new link road was part of an immigrant's house

The discovery of a medieval wall four feet under modern Lincoln could shed new light on how the city's poorer residents scratched a living in the 12th century.

Archaeologists first discovered a wall, believed to be from the Middle Ages or earlier, underneath where Gadsby's once stood.

The amazing find was revealed on a site at the corner of High Street and Tentercroft Street during work on the East-West Link Road.

Then, digging about a foot immediately behind this wall, a smaller wall was found that appears to run parallel to it.

The second wall shows Victorian brickwork, a cross-section of medieval wall, and a Roman layer at the bottom.

Pieces of pottery and bone are visible through the layers, which can be dated to help piece together the past.

What remains to be discovered is how the medieval dwelling was used, whether it was someone's home or if a trade was carried out there.

Will Munford, director of Pre-Construct Archaeological Services, said: "Based on initial findings we think the first wall may be part of a building dating from the High Medieval period of perhaps around the 12th century.

"It was probably set back behind buildings on the High Street and, because it is roughly constructed, it could possibly represent housing for poorer people from a period when daily wage workers began to move to growing towns and cities during a population boom.

"In our excavation we will look for more definitive evidence of the use of the building and its date, and we will produce a report on what we find.

"In the High Medieval period the area was called Wigford and the High Street as we know it would have been lined with houses and shops and lots of religious institutions and churches.

"Other examples of buildings of a similar date include the Norman House (46-47 Steep Hill), the Jews Court (2 and 3 Steep Hill) and St Mary's Guildhall further down the High Street.

"We hope the work on this site will tell us about what was going on in the back streets and alleyways, where life was perhaps a little less comfortable, and we can expect to find remains of industry such as pottery manufacture, along with evidence of the domestic lives of people living close by.

"We have already found a number of pits from the later medieval period cut in to the building, containing dumps of rubbish including large cooking pots."

East-West Link Road project manager Adam Round said: "From the work we had undertaken in the design stages, we knew to expect archaeology in this area.

"As such we had scheduled time into the scheme programme for archaeological investigations to take place so this discovery won't delay the construction of the road."

The name Tentercroft is a nod to Lincoln's famous wool trade from the Middle Ages.

Tenters were large wooden frames over which wool cloth, attached using tenterhooks, was stretched taut to dry.

Work started on the £22 million road scheme in November last year in the centre of Lincoln and is being built by Balfour Beatty Construction.

The two-year project will connect the High Street at its junction with Tentercroft Street to Pelham Bridge and Canwick Road.

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