During investigations at the Cups Hotel Site in 1974 a medieval stone house (CAT Building 157) was discovered when bulk earth-moving was being carried out by the contractors for the basement. The southern face of the buildings north-east wall was revealed during these operations and further parts of the building were uncovered on three subsequent occasions when the contractor was operating outside the main area of the redevelopment site. The building appeared to have been demolished in the 19th century and the remains of the northern part of the building were later completely destroyed when cellars were built, probably in also in the 19th century.
Only the eastern and southern walls were investigated in 1974. The foundations and walls were of reused Roman building materials, the absence of peg tile suggesting that the building was constructed early in the medieval period. Three parallel north-south foundations lay on the south side of the east wall. The bottom of one foundation still survived and consisted of horizontal layers of septaria and sand, mortared septaria, chalky mortar and at the bottom, septaria in sand and loam. The building probably took the form of a central hall with two wings, one on the south-east side of the hall block and one on its south-west side. No floors survived but a latrine pit adjacent to the east wing of the building may have been associated with it (see MCC1211).<1><2> In a letter from Morant to Stukeley there is the following: ' Some years ago the Queens Head Inn in this town was looked upon as one of the most valuable remains of antiquity, there being in it a very antique building, which the old people still have a notion of, under the name of temple.' <3>