Search

This paper reports a high-resolution isotopic study of medieval horse mobility, revealing their origins and in-life mobility both regionally and internationally. The animals were found in an unusual horse cemetery site found within the City of Westminster, London, England. Enamel strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotope analysis of 15 individuals provides information about likely place of birth, diet, and mobility during the first approximately 5 years of life. Results show that at least seven horses originated outside of Britain in relatively cold climates, potentially in Scandinavia or the Western Alps. Ancient DNA sexing data indicate no consistent sex-specific mobility patterning, although three of the five females came from exceptionally highly radiogenic regions. Another female with low mobility is suggested to be a sedentary broodmare. Our results provide direct and unprecedented evidence for a variety of horse movement and trading practices in the Middle Ages and highlight the importance of international trade in securing high-quality horses for medieval London elites.

The rich late 18th-century finds assemblages recovered from two cesspits excavated in modern Blomfield Street, on the site of the house originally occupied by keepers of the Bethlem burial ground, provide illuminating insights into the lives of subsequent residents and those whom their business supplied. Then located in Brokers Row, the area was dominated by ‘brokers’ and ‘upholders’ of furniture, furnishings and household goods. This paper seeks to consider the finds in broad functional groups within the wider historical context of the site and specifically in relation to the occupations of those known to have lived here, comparing these assemblages with other contemporaneous clearance groups from across London and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 4000 fragments of bone and ivory working waste were recovered during the archaeological excavation of the New Churchyard burial ground for Crossrail Limited in advance of the construction of the new Broadgate ticket hall, Liverpool Street. The waste probably derives from a workshop owned by successive generations of the Clitherow family who also served as keepers of the burial ground between 1636 and 1740, and who appear to have disposed of much of their waste within its limits. The waste indicates that the majority of their products were produced on the lathe and members of the family are described as turners in contemporary documents. The main raw materials utilised were metapodials from cattle along with smaller quantities of sheep or goat metapodials, imported elephant ivory and perhaps tortoiseshell. The waste provides valuable insights into their workshop practices, techniques and products, which included needle cases and components for optical instruments, notably several types of telescope. Benjamin Clitherow supplied telescope components to at least one instrument maker, George Willdey (d 1737), who had a shop on Ludgate Street. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals primarily with the results of archaeological work carried out in 2013, but also includes earlier fieldwork carried out as part of an evaluation and watching brief in 2007. Initial Roman activity included quarrying and ditch digging. During the late Neronian—early Flavian period (c.ad 65—80) three clay and timber buildings were constructed, one of which contained an oven. These buildings and associated open areas remained in use, probably until the end of the early Antonine period (c.ad 160). A large ditch, possibly a boundary associated with these properties, was backfilled prior to the construction of a fourth clay and timber building. Few late Roman features survived but traces of at least one masonry building and two open areas might suggest that occupation became less dense after c.ad 250. A small number of Saxo-Norman features included rubbish pits and a cesspit. A barrel-lined well went out of use in the period c.1050—1150. The bulk of the medieval activity dated from the 13th/14th centuries and included many pits and a large barrel-lined well. Remains of several masonry-lined cesspits were found, two of which remained in use until the late 15th or 16th century. Much of the medieval assemblage derives from domestic pitting and relates to discrete rubbish disposal episodes during the mid- to late 13th century. Towards the north-eastern corner of the site, a single medieval building was probably demolished during the late 13th century. The site sequence was truncated by deep modern basements and therefore post-medieval features were scarce, surviving examples included brick or masonry-lined cesspits and wells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An archaeological investigation carried out by AOC Archaeology at 18—30 Leonard Street, in the London Borough of Islington revealed evidence of early post-medieval gravel quarrying and subsequent dumping of domestic rubbish. Among the late 16th- to mid-17th-century assemblage were a number of significant ceramic finds including a Siegburg stoneware tankard. An unusual faunal assemblage dominated by dogs is believed to relate to the kennels of the Common Hunt, which moved close to the site in 1570. In the late 18th century the area was developed for housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The site of 11--23 New Fetter Lane, 25 New Street Square, 11 Bartlett Court, 1 and 8--9 East Harding Street, London, EC4, lies to the west of the City of London. Archaeological work carried out in 2005 revealed an area of open land behind suburban housing that was used during the late 16th and 17th centuries for the disposal of domestic waste. The open aspect of this area was probably important in helping to stop the westward advance of the Great Fire of London, as the Fire damage map produced by Hollar in 1666 shows that the conflagration stopped half-way across the site. Following a summary of the site sequence, the second part of this report focuses on the Tudor and Stuart finds and structures, which provide valuable insight into local commerce, economic activity, horticulture, industry, religion and the status of the residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological investigations in the northern part of the St Bartholomew's Hospital precinct in 2005--6 revealed evidence for the medieval Carthusian monastery -- the London Charterhouse -- and for its rebuilding and conversion, after the Dissolution, first into an aristocratic townhouse and then, after 1611, into Sutton's hospital and Charterhouse school. The remains of the walls and latrines of two of the monastic cells were recorded together with artefacts and food remains from the religious house and garden features. In the later 16th and 17th centuries, the area was occupied by both high-status residences and smallscale industrial premises, attested by a wide range of domestic and pharmaceutical items and by material derived from pin-making and metalworking. Ceramic items, including 20 candlesticks, 15 moneyboxes, a warming pan and four fuming pots, probably derive from Sutton's hospital and school founded in 1611. In addition the site yielded a sizeable assemblage of pottery ceramics, with a particular emphasis on good quality table wares, and a large number of clay tobacco pipes, with several different makers' marks, both groups dating to the early and mid-17th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This site near the Tower of London produced archaeological evidence of Roman occupation, the medieval religious house of Crossed Friars, late 16th- to 17th century glass manufacture and a 19th-century tavern assemblage. During the later 1st century AD two linear boundary ditches bisected the site, but there was little contemporary evidence of actual occupation. These ditches were both infilled during the early 2nd century AD. Subsequent Roman activity within this area consisted of the digging of scattered cess and rubbish pits, while a timber- lined well contained eight complete ceramic vessels dating from the late 2nd to early 3rd century ad, one of which was inscribed with Greek graffiti. The site was abandoned by the end of the 4th century AD and was not reoccupied until the later 10 th century. The location of the priory of the Crossed Friars has long been indicated by the street name Crutched Friars to the north of Tower Hill, but little was known of the plan of the friary's buildings. Recent excavations and documentary research have enabled a reconstruction of the friary church and precinct buildings to be attempted. The earliest phase of the church (c. 1265-1350) consisted of a simple rectangular building which was subsequently enlarged during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The construction of the retro-choir was incomplete when the friary was dissolved in 1538. The article also identifies the various medieval tenements acquired by the friars to create their priory. Evidence of the destruction of the priory during the Dissolution and the subsequent usage of the site was uncovered, which included late 16th- and early 17th-century façon de Venise style glass-working debris and a later assemblage of material from the French Horn tavern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the large-scale development at One New Change on Cheapside in the City of London, archaeological investigations recorded a number of cellars, cesspits and other features with associated artefactual assemblages from properties that once fronted Cheapside between Old Change and Bread Street. By using documents (when possible) related to property ownership, historic mapping and archaeological evidence, this article will take a holistic approach to the study of up to six properties here from the Tudor period, including those destroyed by the Great Fire of London, up to the mid- 18th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]