A culinary delight of ingredients provided the setting for week 7’s recipe of fun.

On the general finds side of the project, two sites were improved this week; Monday & Friday’s teams ploughed on through the material from St John Cass School, (CASS72), admiring the numerous amounts of pottery and steadily reducing the number of boxes these pots are stored in, by effective repacking and ordering. Wednesday’s groups tackled animal bone from the Triangle site (TR74), the final type of material they’ll be getting their hands on as next week it’s over to the Museum of London for them as they start to put together the photos they’ve been taking throughout to produce their video diaries.

Over with Registered finds, we started a new site, Milk Street (MLk76) which produced our first object of the week – a saxon bone comb which used to be on display in the old medieval gallery. A few bits of leather remaining from last week was also completed and Friday’s team completed all the glass, wood and started a box of pigment samples which produced our second object of the week – an oyster shell paint palette.

This week’s workshop was something quite different to the usual ones as we welcomed archaeological conservator, Luisa Duarte to LAARC to guide us through “Eggscavation”. Quite possibly my favourite workshop so far, Eggscavation, is all about how conservators lift delicate artefacts on site and a great practical way of learning the techniques behind it.

On entering our common room, volunteers were confronted with a seed tray full of compost, with an egg buried in the centre. Not knowing whether the egg was whole, hard boiled or indeed covering something else, the task was to careful lift the object, before carefully excavating it further.

Wrapping the visible shell with wet tissue first, then ten created a barrier to surround the egg, using laminated card. Once fenced in, volunteers mixed some plaster of paris and poured this into the fenced off space, covering the tissued egg.

Whilst waiting for the plaster to set, Luisa showed us some brilliant pieces of leather and wood and explained the process of freeze drying in relation to these organic finds.

Then it was back to the egg, the next stage being to put a fish slice beneath the barrier of card and flipping the whole thing over, plaster side down. Finally, with a small stick and brushes, they removed the remaining soil, until the egg and the contents inside were exposed.

I’m pleased to report that not one egg cracked!

To view more photos from the week, visit our Flickr site by clicking here: Flickr

To find out more about the excavations we’re currently working on or any other associated information click on the highlighted links in the text.

I have really enjoyed working in Burgess Park.  We have uncovered some interesting details about the history of the park and met some interesting local residents who kindly shared their research and memories of the area.  Some 400 local school children have helped explore the archaeology and we’ve trained 31 adults in the techniques and principles of archaeological excavation. 

We may have finished excavating but this is not the end of our work on the site.  The next stage is done back at the office and we need to pull together our research, photos, maps and finds, consult with specialists and write up the results.  These results will be published and available to anyone who is interested.  The records and finds from the site will be archived with the London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre (LAARC) in due course, and again these will accessible by appointment to anyone who would like to see them.  After all that the process starts again.  Where shall we excavate next summer…?

Thanks to all the staff and volunteers who helped run the excavation; thanks to everyone who took part; thanks to all the local people who shared their knowledge and memories; thanks to Southwark and Lambeth Archaeological Excavation Committee for their funding and finally thanks to Southwark Council for allowing us to excavate in Burgess Park.

Kate Sumnall, Community Archaeologist, Museum of London

Maps from 1746 show the area of the excavations was used for market gardening. Vegetables needs fertiliser, – so every night a great supply arrived from London in the form of human waste matter, politely known as ‘night soil’. Other debris was also thrown in to this mixture, including the sherds of Roman pottery which have been found. Other historical periods are represented by finds such as a medieval roof tile complete with peg hole and a 17^th century clay tobacco pipe with a small bowl. The size of the pipe bowl is the clue to the period in which it was produced – tobacco at this time was rare and very expensive.

Trench 1 revealed pottery which was decorated and of good quality and some fine cut glass-ware was found indicating a respectable residential area. As London expanded and became more prosperous, the fields of vegetables had evolved to become a desirable mid-Victorian residential area. Evidence of this can found in the house uncovered in trench 1. The streets around the site also reflect the popularity of Lord Nelson after the battle of Trafalgar e.g. Nile Street and the Lord Nelson pub on Trafalgar Avenue. The houses were three-storey with a sub-basement.

The nearby Surrey Canal with its easy access to the port of London ensured that, later, the growth of major industry would move to the area. At this point, the residents of the mid-Victorian houses such as that exposed in trench 1 moved away and the houses were occupied by the families of those who worked in the increasing number of factories, for example, the R.Whites lemonade factory. The house revealed in trench 2 relates to this period.

London was attacked by the world’s first ballistic missile, the V-2 rocket (in German Vergeltungswaffe 2 which means Vengeance weapon 2) in 1944. The devastation from the 13 tonne rocket, which impacted at over 3000 miles an hour without warning, was catastrophic. There was no warning because it travelled faster than the speed of sound. Survivors only heard the sonic boom after the blast. At 10am on St Valentine’s Day 1945 our site at Burgess Park was hit by a V2 bomb. The area had been targeted because of the industry located here and the canal which was used by German bombers as a landmark leading to the city of London.

Our dig has provided evidence of the evolution of the area now occupied by Burgess Park which was created from the bomb site. The dig has shown that at the time the houses were destroyed by the bomb, both the mid- and late-Victorian houses, as represented by the archaeological remains in trenches 1 and 2, were occupied by people working in the local factories.

 Today Burgess Park is a green and peaceful park enjoyed by the local community who now have a window to the past through the findings from this dig. It was very enjoyable to meet local residents who came down to look at the dig and tell us their stories of the past including the photographs they brought with them. A whole new generation of the local community was also represented by the school children who came to help, some of whom want to become archaeologists.

Sylvia and Jo

For today’s blog, I’m going to get straight to the highlight of the week – our fantastic workshops on archaeological textiles. Curator of Fashion & Decorative Arts, Hilary Davidson headed over to lead the session which separated itself into three parts; medieval textiles found along the river sites, Tudor items found back in the days of the Guildhall Museum & burial garments found during the Spitalfields excavations at Christchurch (CAS84).

I think it fair to say that we were blown away by some of the material that survived in our collections, from decorated silks to knitted wool, from burial bonnets to Tudor socks. And even a medieval hair extension and Tudor codpiece popped up during the talk.

During the sessions, we tried to link things together by checking and auditing the leather & textile fragments from 1983-1986’s excavations. A couple of volunteers got to pack some textiles – one of the trickiest packing techniques there is – whilst others got to add sketches of the textiles to the reverse of the finds cards. Although the majority of objects were no way near as good a condition as those in the workshop, there were still some pretty amazing bits that’s we came across, like the 19th century decorative boot from Mansion House, (SON85), the shoe heel from Carter Lane, (CAT86) and the piece of rope from the former city of London Boy’s School (BOY86)

When not working on organic material it was on to our next big site in the general finds, Sir John Cass school, (CASS72). Monday’s team almost completed the animal bone with Friday’s team rounding it off before moving on to the pottery assemblages. already, several boxes are being saved by this basic repacking of artifacts and the accessibility has improved beyond a doubt.

–>

Wednesday’s groups tackled building material from the Triangle of Billingsgate Buildings site (TR74), completing it all in the morning, leaving only roman wall plaster for the young archaeologist team to complete. Both groups ended their session by visiting the ceramic & glass store to take photos to supplement their project and view some of the best wall plaster ever excavated.

As a bonus this week, we had the second set of students from the Burgess Park Training Excavation join us. After a thorough tour of all archaeological aspects of the building, they joint in with the VIP project by working on more general pottery from the Triangle (TR74) and Registered Finds from the Modern Foreshore site (MFS76)

For more photos visit our Flickr site by clicking here: FLICKR

And to find out more about any of the excavations we’ve worked on this week click on the highlighted sitecode in the text above.

Work continues a pace as we approach the final three weeks of the excavation period,  So do our minutes hasten… (Sonnet 60).

Last week we welcomed a new member to the team, Dave Saxby, whose insights and vast experience will be invaluable to our understanding of the site.

Of nuns and beer – a brief history from the holy to the profane…

Up until the mid 12^th century, the area of the site here would have been just fields.  Previous archaeological excavations in the area immediately surrounding The Theatre have found no substantial evidence for Pre-historic, Roman and Saxon occupation.

This all changed in the 1150s with the founding of the St John the Baptist Priory.  Our colleague, Hana Lewis excavated the Priory Church as a part of the nearby East London Line excavations in 2007.  An article about that dig appeared in the latest issue of London Archaeologist (the periodical covering history, heritage and archaeology in London, follow this link for more information: http://www.londonarchaeologist.org.uk/). 

In its four hundred year history the Priory was the ninth richest in Britain and held sizable tracts of land and like other religious establishments of its type, it was mostly self sufficient.  Britain’s Priories were usually equipped with barns for storing crops raised on their lands, mills to grind the corn, cellars, dairies orchards and sometime vineyards.  Our site lies entirely within the precinct walls of Holywell Priory and directly over some of the buildings west of the main complex that would have provided the nuns with their daily bread and beer. 

Map of Holywell Priory

On this map of the Priory, created in the nineteenth century from historical records, the buildings that would have occupied our site are listed as a bake house and a brew house on the left (west) side of the Great Court and above (north) of the pond.

Bread has always been a staple and before modern piped water infrastructure, drinking beer was safer than drinking water (the brewing process effectively sterilises the drink), this was especially true in built up environments like the rapidly expanding Tudor London, where ground water and wells could easily become contaminated.  The beer in question wasn’t always the strongest of ales as we may know them today.  More frequently consumed was small beer, which was weaker and made from a second fermentation of malt that had already produced the more intoxicating first brew.

When the Priory was dissolved in 1539, its lands and remaining buildings were split up and sold and by 1576 the area including our site was in the possession of one Giles Allen who sold a 21 year lease to James Burbage and his business partner and brother in law John Brayne to build and operate The Theatre.  As Burbage (and more of him anon) appears to have been a canny business man, he would clearly have seen the advantage of some on site catering to extract a few more pennies from his punters.  The later Bankside theatres such as The Globe and The Rose were known to have dedicated tap houses for their catering needs and just as The Theatre served as the prototype for the playhouses it is not inconceivable that our brew house served as a pragmatic re-use of an existing build for the prototype tap house.

Would I were in an alehouse in London!  I would give all my fame for a pot of ale… (Henry V. III. i. 13)

Black glazed red ware pottery

Historically we know that the brew house and bake house complex survived the dissolution and were rented out at least in part as tenements, but it is also likely that they continued their original purpose.  We have evidence, in the form of black glazed red ware pottery, in a form that is traditionally associated with brewing and beer drinking.  This pottery is contemporary with The Theatre, likewise the pottery fragment with the bearded gentleman design mentioned in our first blog posting; he was found crushed into the theatre yard – home to the groundlings!  What would be more natural than to share a pint or two with ones friends when one comes to see a show. 

Photograph of brew house wall

We have now found the back wall of the medieval brew house building and on initial inspection it seems we now have hard evidence for its survival through the dissolution.  It seems that the later Tudor builders were not averse to a little recycling as demonstrated by the discovery of a remnant of an inserted stone floor made of a green sandstone called Reigate stone.  This was probably taken from one of the Priory buildings as they were being demolished. 

Dave Saxby cleaning the re-used stone floor

The photo of Dave shows him cleaning this re-used stone floor; the stone just below his left knee has a rounded moulding carved around its edge and an oval groove cut into one side.  These carved elements indicate that the stone was formerly used as a decorative architectural feature, probably the top of a small column or pair of columns.  The find resembles some of those found by Hana in the Holywell Priory church. 

Hana visits our site to see the Priory stonework

We are currently analysing the finds from this area and hope to update you as soon as we know if they back up our current ideas, or whether we will have to form an alternative hypothesis.  In this game you are only as good as your last hypothesis and if the evidence doesn’t support it, you have to re-don the thinking cap, formulate another and rigorously test it against new data.

O! there be players that I have seen play, and heard others praise, and that highly…(Hamlet III. ii. 1)

As a part of the Tower Theatre Company’s fund raising campaign (http://www.thetheatre.org.uk/index.htm), last week the actors Paul McGann and Susannah Harker performed scenes from Midsummer Night Dream and Romeo and Juliet upon the very ground where four hundred years ago, the same words were enacted before an equally rapt audience.  

Suzannah Harker and Paul McGann on site

From historical records we know that Romeo and Juliet was premiered here at The Theatre and with James Burbage’s son Richard in the lead role.

There seems to be more than just a little serendipity surrounding this place and as archaeologists we feel a sense of privilege to be a part of this project that completes the circle from stage to stage.

Next time…

• Some of the characters who once populated this space
• Echoes in the landscape
• Exciting new developments, the latest finds and their implications

Links:

London Archaeologist: http://www.londonarchaeologist.org.uk/

Tower Theatre Company: http://www.towertheatre.org.uk/

Tower Theatre Company, the new theatre: http://www.thetheatre.org.uk/index.htm

Footage of the 2009 evaluation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=savcpQFVu8w

MOTCO UK directory and image database, antique maps, prints and books: http://www.motco.com/default-Markou.asp

Museum of London: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/english

Museum of London Archaeology: http://www.museumoflondonarchaeology.org.uk/English/

Ben Crystal: http://www.shakespeareontoast.com/

We began the day doing section drawings of trench two. This involved drawing the stratigraphic layers of a 2.5 metre section, and then the difficult task of creating a Harris Matrix of the section. This went well until it began to rain! Later in the day, we learned about environmental sampling, and how it can reveal even the tiniest of archaeological clues about diet and status. We then carried on digging in trench one, with an aim to reveal the boundaries of the construction cut and the walls of a Victorian coal basement. This continued until lunch time, at which point we travelled to the London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre (LAARC) which involved eating our lunch on the bus! We were given a very in-depth tour of the LAARC, viewing archaeological remains ranging from medieval human hair to Roman footwear. Afterwards, we viewed the Museum’s incredibly large and amazing Ceramics and Glass collection, including Samian ware and large marble busts.  We then headed back into the archive where we viewed the rather outdated packaging materials used to store finds in the 1970s, and the questionable labelling of some of these finds. We finished the day repackaging finds in order to create a more up-to date and effective archive.

Wendy and Russell

During the dig we stumbled across some Roman pottery, an unusual and interesting find for this dig. Later on we found the bottom of a teacup, slowly followed by a side of it.

After the morning’s dig we proceeded with a spot of levelling, made interesting with a competition of accuracy (and of course Tom’s amazing drawing skills). We learnt the importance of levelling, as it helps form a 3D image of the site using GPS for surveying, and also for locating different phases of archaeology.

We ended the day with a talk on pottery from pottery specialist Roy Stephenson (Head of the Museum’s Department of Archaeological Collections and Archive). During this talk we learnt of the importance of pottery with regards to dating. We learnt how dates would be identified through pottery fabric, formation and decoration. After this we finished the day with a little more digging!! The highlight of the day was definitely the finds we excavated from the trench.

Christie, Jasmine, Mathilde and Nathaniel

After the introduction we separated into two groups to continue digging in the existing trenches that had been excavated prior to us arriving. Our task was to continue excavating and documenting finds, these included objects such as fragments of pottery, clay pipes and various pieces of metal and china. Another task which we all conducted was to plan the excavated area onto permatrace paper to show the layout of the sites.  

During the course of the day we were lucky enough to meet a local resident, who grew up in the area, called Elvera “Babs” Lawrence. She enjoyed telling us tales of life growing up with her family during war time and the post-war era. She brought along with her a photograph of her grandfather, Alexander Joseph Douraf, and his shop on the corner of Trafalgar Avenue.

It was enjoyable to talk to the local residents in the area who were taking an interest in the project. This added to an exciting and educational first day for us at the dig.  

Katherine & James

We had a whistle-stop tour of the archive where thousands of finds are stored in labelled bags, which are packed into carefully labelled boxes and stored on metal roller shelf units. In the metals store, metal finds are mostly stored in plastic containers with packing and silica gel to prevent dampness. Many of the metal finds recovered from archaeological sites are in a poor state, and so they are x-rayed to show up the features unseen by the human eye. Some metal finds are also treated by archaeological conservators.  All the storage areas in the LAARC are temperature and humidity controlled environments in order to protect the finds and records.

After our tour of the archive, we received an explanation of how artefacts are cleaned, and then we had the chance to work hands-on with Roman ceramics, repacking them to the LAARC’s high quality standard.  Finds repacking is being undertaken at the LAARC as part of the Volunteer Inclusion Programme, and also by the LAARC’s long-term volunteers.

Doug

Note: this is the last blog from the first week of the training dig – more blogs will follow for the second week, when a new group of students starts digging!

After lunch one of our supervisors, Jamie, gave us a talk on environmental archaeology, where we had the opportunity to look at some bones and seeds found through sampling on various archaeological sites.

We then were taught the importance of levelling, and were given a demonstration of the equipment used (dumpy level and levelling staff).  We split into smaller groups and were shown how to use the equipment under instruction from Tom, another of our supervisors.

Unfortunately the weather wasn’t on our side during the afternoon, but this did not diminish our enthusiasm.

By Keara and Sam

Fresh from our break last week, where volunteers got a chance to dig at our Burgess Park community project, it was back to the archive for more packing and auditing.

Monday’s team started with some roman coins from the 1976 London Dock’s (LD76) site completing the lot. These coins went from being loose in plastic bags to nicely protected in small coin boxes. In the afternoon, they moved over to General finds and completed the pottery from the large St. Thomas Street site (1STS74), moving on the building material.

Friday’s group were back to registered finds in the morning and were on fire! They got through over 60 boxes completing 7  brand new sites; St Swithin’s Lane (SL75) St Magnus, New Fresh Wharf (SM75), Westminster Abbey (WAM75), 175 Borough High Street (175BHS76), Christ Church Greyfriars (CHR76), Fenchurch Street (FSE76) & London Docks (LD76) getting through ceramic, bone, stone, wood and glass artefacts. In the afternoon they moved on to completing all the big heavy boxes of building material from St Thomas Street (1STS74).

Wednesday’s groups started work on general finds for the first time, tackling boxes of pottery from the Triangle of Billingsgate Buildings (TR74) before recording their experience with photographs. Their session ended with a visit to our ceramic and glass store to compare their sherds with the complete vessels within the museum’s collections.

Our YAC group spent their time solely in the ceramic & glass store, looking at complete examples first, then moving on to complete all three boxes of pottery from the 1974 excavation at Union Street (8US74). By being in a room full of these complete goodies we were able to once again match our sherds to complete examples, but, as all of these pots had been published, we also matched the sherds to the illustrations in the publication.

The workshop this week was focused on pottery, in particular, tin glazed earthenwares. We were fortunate to have our Head of Department (who started off his Museum of London career as a pottery specialist) lead this session.

An additional bonus this week was the visit from the team of trainee archaeologists currently working on the Burgess Park Training Excavation in Southwark. The group visited the archive on Thursday and as well as looking around our stores, visited Museum of London Archaeology’s finds processing areas and offices. They finished by spending some time in the ceramic and glass store, where they became VIP volunteers for 30mins, packing some more finds from the pottery archive of The Triangle site (TR74)

For more photos visit our flick site by clicking here: FLICKR

And you can follow links for more info about any of the sites we’re working on, or any other information, by clicking on the highlighted sitecodes in the text.

We spent some time thinking about the title of the exhibition. Other candidates were ‘Archaeology Now’, ‘Archaeology Today’ and ‘Archaeology in Practice’ but ‘Archaeology in Action’, a suggestion put forward by our colleagues at the Museum of London Archaeology, won by far the popular vote.

Few people outside the museum world would probably realise how much work an exhibition project entails and how many people from different departments need to be involved to make it happen.

My role as the project manager of the exhibition was to coordinate work, ensure the timetable was followed and key deadlines along the way were met, manage the budget, make sure the right people were speaking to each other and decisions were made when needed and keep everyone in the team and the rest of the museum informed of the developments.

The people who worked with me and who I would like to thank for their contribution to this project are (and did I say we were a small team?):

Jon Cotton, the curator, who selected the objects and images for the display, developed the text and film content, assisted the designer and conservator with the case layouts and object installation, liaised with people at the Museum of London Archaeology and other archaeological companies about the recent finds display and had the difficult task of selecting the five key sites that best represent archaeology in London.

Leigh Cain, the 3D designer, who developed the design concept and layout of the exhibition and turned the three straight, plain, dark grey walls of the exhibition space into an imaginative, clean and fresh-looking display.

Jayne Davis, the graphic designer, who developed the graphic elements of the exhibition, the title, the colours and the layout of the text and images on the walls, graphic panels, and object captions.

Jill Barnard, the conservator, who conserved the objects, liaised with the technicians for the object mounts, managed the installation stage of the exhibition and ensured the showcases provide a safe and suitable environment for the objects for the next two years. Kate French, Lisa Psarianos and Luisa Duarte who have also helped with the conservation of objects and the mounts.

Catherine Stevenson, the learning advocate, who ensured the exhibition is suitable for schools and families and helped to develop our ‘What do these finds mean?’ interactive, which we expect will be one of the most popular elements of the exhibition.

Nickos Gogolos, the registrar, who arranged the loan agreements between the museum and our object lenders and made sure we had all the necessary documentation on time for the exhibition’s opening.

Kirsty Marsh, the inclusion officer, who liaised with the Friends of Arnold Circus for the display of the wall-hanging ‘Bagaan’ a great example of community involvement with archaeology.

Cliff Thomas, Richard Tosdevin and Hilmi Nevzat, the technicians, who made the object mounts and prepared the showcases and object plinths, installed the objects and, as always, helped to sort out all sorts of odd and last minute issues with the display.

Richard Stroud, the photographer, who put together the introductory projection and the film about the Theatre excavation.

Andy Murray and John Iaciofano, the electricians, who wired up the exhibition so that film, sound, projections and powerpoint presentations are all possible in the space and who put the final lighting touch that made the objects in the showcases stand out.

Louise Baker, the Visitor Services team leader, who brought in the operational perspective and advised on aspects to do with the way our visitors will use the exhibition space.

Claire Kirk, the events officer, who organised the events programme so that the exhibition space is also used for talks, object handling sessions and demonstrations.

Nicola Kalimeris, Anne McMeekin and John Joyce from Communications who looked after the promotion of the exhibition and Vicky Lee, the marketing manager who together with Jayne Davis produced the exhibition’s advertising poster.

Cathy Ross, Annette Day, David Spence, Frazer Swift and Roy Stevenson, our approvals team, who had the task to approve and sign off countless versions of the exhibition’s text and film.

Steve Cox and Andy McCabe who looked after the security and health and safety aspects of the exhibition.

Thanks also to:

Our colleagues at the Museum of London Archaeology, Taryn Nixon and Jo Lyon for making the Theatre excavation display happen, Tracy Wellman and Carlos Lemos for developing the ‘Slice through time’ graphic that shows a simplified version of London’s archaeological stratigraphy,  Andy Chopping for providing most of the images that feature in the exhibition and Adam Corsini and Glynn Davis from LAARC for sourcing a lot of the material that is on display.

Nathalie Cohen, Lorna Richardson and Anies Hassan from the Thames Discovery Programme for their contribution and the beautiful film about their work with volunteers and the archaeology on the Thames foreshore.

Our contractors, Matt Di Fiore, Peter Sheldrick, Dave Richardson and their teams for the setworks, graphics production and alarms installation respectively.

Watch this page for more entries from Jon Cotton and do keep an eye for updates in our recent finds display in the coming months.

Elpiniki Psalti , Display and Exhibitions Project Manager

“Trench 2 has been cleared to a fairly level surface making it easier to identify the different areas of soil and debris. Following on from a talk on planning, we divided the trench into sections and split into groups to have a stab at plotting by grid these different areas.

In Trench 1 we have had a first taste of using a mattock, or pick axe, to break up large lumps of debris (mainly bricks)…

…We found several metal curves which we guessed could have been drawer handles and parts of a chimney pot.

Also today, Roy Stephenson, Head of the Department of Archaeological Collections and Archive at the Museum of London, came to speak to us about pottery and ways of dating finds.

He was able to identify, from our finds, pottery from Roman and Tudor times and Midlands Purpleware, Tudor Greenware and a small piece of black basalt ware made by Wedgewood.

This is a five day course for adults to learn the basics techniques of field archaeology in an urban environment.

We are continuing on the site following on from our community excavation work with schools and other groups.

Two of our new recruits, Becky and Katie,  took time out from excavating to share their initial thoughts and discoveries:

” Today is our first ever day as trainee archaeologists. About 14 of us are here from different backgrounds – old and young, supple and not so supple!  we are excavating footprints of Victorian terraced houses, many of which were bombed irreparably during the war and subsequently flattened and cleared before becoming a park.

First off we learnt trowelling to clear debris in order to reveal soil/brick features, discovering small finds as we go.

It is thrilling  to identify an intricate design on a piece of pottery, tile or clay pipe, but less attractive items must also be collected such as random metal pieces and glass.

There is an enormous variety of material…

…brick, plaster from architectural features, coal, slate, flint (all discarded unless unusual) and then clay pipes, pottery , glass etc…oh, and losts of dust!

Will be learning this afternoon how to record the finds on context sheets and seeing what everyone elsehas found and what we can learn.”

This beautiful item was found in a trench placed just outside of The Theatre, and once again, our pottery expert Jacqui Pearce has been able to throw some light upon it:

The goblet is more properly called a beaker (the more ordinary connotations of this term are better suited to it as well). It is made in Surrey-Hampshire border ware, probably in the mid 16th century (could go into later 16th, but not much beyond). It could well have been made at Farnborough, the late 16th century hub of the industry. The form was often used alongside small drinking jugs and loads have been found at the Inns of Court, where they were bought in bulk. It marks the large scale transition from drinking from wooden bowls to using ceramic vessels, which took place in the 15th and 16th centuries.

The beaker would have been used to drink wine or sack, which is a Tudor type of sherry, a fortified wine and it is not inconceivable to speculate that it may have a close association with The Theatre. 

So why do archaeologists love pottery so much?

Pottery is one of the most useful things an archaeologist can find.  Pottery designs, styles, types of material, developments in ceramic and kiln technologies change with time.  Also, specific types and styles of pottery can be associated with specific groups of people and activities.  Perhaps most importantly, even if it is not complete, pottery sherds are almost indestructible and therefore can survive for long periods of time, buried in the earth to be discovered by archaeologists and shed light onto the past. 

An archaeologist called Flinders Petrie (most famous for his digs in Egypt and the near east and often regarded as the father of modern systematic archaeology) was the first to developed ceramic typologiesin the nineteenth century.  For these typologies, he grouped his excavated pottery by style and type and produced a sort of evolutionary chart showing how the pottery had developed through time (for more information on Petrie, follow this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flinders_Petrie).  He was then able to use these typologies to create a relative chronology for the pottery and therefore his sites to help to date them in the absence of any historical information and modern absolute dating techniques (methods like Radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology that you may be familiar with from Time Team).

Today, we have the benefit of a great deal of historical and other research which, when combined with absolute dating techniques, has produced very good dating frameworks for understanding a site from its pottery.  Experienced pottery specialists, like Jacqui Pearce can often tell at a glance what a piece of pot may have been used for and what period it dates from.

So what does the beaker tell us?  On its own, a single item of evidence usually cannot tell us much.  We have to look at all the finds as a whole (we call that whole an assemblage), to truly get the best information.  However, this particular beaker does, tantalisingly, offer us some information.  It is a relatively high status item which appears to put it a little out of place for this location.  Shoreditch has traditionally been known as a poor area as suggested in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons, where the bells of Shoreditch say when I am rich, more in hope than expectation.

The presence of such a high status item in this location, which nay date from the time of The Theatre poses a number of interesting if speculative questions:

• Was this the beaker of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Burbage or one of their friends or associates?  Perhaps it was used to toast a successful production?  “I am known to be… one that loves a cup of hot wine…” (Coriolanus. II. i [52])
• Was it discarded by a rich theatre goer?  “We’ll teach you to drink deep ere you depart” (Hamlet. I. ii [175])
• Was it a prop used in one or more the plays?

The answer may never be known to us, but this artefact has the potential to link us directly to Shakespeare and his contemporaries through the simple act of taking a drink and it has been waiting, patiently in the ground, waiting for us for over 400 years.

This beaker will now be examined more closely, restored and eventually put on display.

Archaeology in action:

We have some exciting news from the Museum of London: from the end of the week (17th July), a new exhibition area will be opening entitled Archaeology in Action.  These displays will showcase excavations in London as they are happening and items and information from this site will be among the first to be shown.  Entrance to the Museum of London is free and for details of how to get there, follow this link: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/VisitUs/.

Building the new theatre:

Our evaluation work and the revelation of actual remains of the Shakespearian theatre on this site was greeted with enthusiasm by the Tower Theatre Company, but the discovery also presented them with a design challenge.  How could they build their new theatre without damaging the old?

The project architect and engineers had to produce a layout that both avoided and incorporated The Theatre (for more information on the planned new theatre, follow this link: http://www.thetheatre.org.uk/theatre.htm).  The supporting foundations, pile, drains and cabling have to be placed safely away from The Theatre and their proposed locations have to be thoroughly excavated to ensure no archaeological information is lost. 

(copyright Bland, Brown and Cole)

This plan shows where The Theatre remains are in relation to the new stage.

Can you dig it?  Yes we can….

This last week’s work has been excavating the approved trenches where the piles and other foundations will go and with these trenches, we open little windows onto the past.

We are hoping to find more of the structure of The Theatre, in particular, more of the outer wall.  So far we have discovered a brick pad that may be the remains of one of the external wall, foundation piers that would have supported one of the oak upright posts that formed this outer wall.

Finding more of the outer wall will enable us to more accurately determine the full size of The Theatre which we currently estimate to be about 22 metres across.

To give an idea of what The Theatre may have looked like, you can visit the famous reconstruction of The Globeon the Southbank of the Thames, which is a little larger than The Theatre, or you could try building one yourself.  Follow this link and print off a paper do-it-yourself model of The Globe http://papertoys.com/images/globe-color.pdf, we have one in pride of place in our site hut.

One for the record – professional photography on site:

Last Thursday another important member of our team visited the site, our professional photographer Maggie Cox.  Maggie’s job is to take the high quality publication and archive photographs needed for our reports and for the archive.  These photographs together with our written and drawn paperwork help to build a complete picture of our work on the site, ensuring that no detail is overlooked.  We call this preservation by record. 

Maggie Cox recording archaeological features

To prepare for Maggie, we had to thoroughly clean the areas she was to photograph.  We used a rather unusual piece of equipment for an archaeological site – a vacuum cleaner! 

The dry and dusty nature of conditions on site at the moment means that vacuuming is the best way to reveal the detail needed for the photographs. 

In the original Shakespearean:

The actor and Shakespearian writer, Ben Crystal visited the site last Thursday.  One of his aims is to de-mystify Shakespeare and his works to make them more accessible and enjoyable.  Together with his father he has also researched what Shakespeare may have actually sounded like: the accent of Shakespeare and to demonstrate he recited Sonnet 116: 

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.

Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle’s compass come:

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Ben Crystal reciting Shakespeare's Sonnet 116

It was certainly very different to the received pronunciation of much modern acting and we hope to be able to post a recording of this performance soon.  This was Ben’s second visit to The Theatre and hopefully not the last (follow this link to Ben’s website to find out more: http://www.shakespeareontoast.com/). 

The power of the pen and the power of place

For writers of the time of Shakespeare and Marlowe, the tool of choice was the quill pen, and with their words they oft laid bare the frailties of the human condition.  The power of their words has left an indelible imprint on our language and in our culture.  Their stories still resonate today and have infiltrated many layers of our society.

Our slightly battered 1980 edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations has 39 pages for the Bible, but a staggering 75 pages for Shakespeare, eight for Hamlet alone!  Poor Kit Marlowe gets but two pages, but more of him anon. 

Within The Theatre, these words were enacted and brought to life for the entertainment of the masses.  Because we can now stand in the very place where this first happened this archaeological site is an evocative place and still holds some of the power of those words.

As archaeologists, our tool of choice is the 41/2” pointing trowel.  Our work here will continue to contribute to the sum of our understanding of this place and of the bard, his contemporaries, his times and all the others who have passed through this place; with each scrape of the trowel we come nearer to them and through them, to ourselves.

When the new theatre is opened it is hoped that the remains of the old will be on display, and as the modern actors cross the stage, they will walk with the shades of their predecessors, time travelling from the present to the 16th century and back, “It is an honest ghost, let me tell you” (Hamlet. I. v [138]).

Coming up soon:

• Legal disputes (‘twas it ever thus): battles with brooms, stick and bills, of pistols and hemp seed
• Exciting developments at the Museum of London – “Archaeology in action”
• Exciting event on The stage: press launch and thespians
• Get thee to a nunnery: a little more of the Priory
• Of beer and pies – the brew house bake house – the eternal importance of beer and pies
• Shakespeare beyond this world
• Of earthquakes, clowns and star crossed lovers

Links:

Tower Theatre Company: http://www.towertheatre.org.uk/

Tower Theatre Company’s new theatre and The Theatre: http://www.thetheatre.org.uk/index.htm

Footage of the 2009 evaluation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=savcpQFVu8w

MOTCO UK directory and image database, antique maps, prints and books:

http://www.motco.com/default-Markou.asp

Museum of London: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/english

Museum of London Archaeology: http://www.museumoflondonarchaeology.org.uk/English/

Ben Crystal: http://www.shakespeareontoast.com/

Sadly, I was only able to join the dig for 2 hours on Saturday morning, but it was a fun (if very hot and dusty) two hours. I arrived shortly after 9am, an hour before the Camden Young Archaeologists members; and Francis Grew and Kate put me right to work in a back corner of Trench 2. I am the person on the far left of one of the photos in the blog for Day 12 at Burgess Park below, which shows us all working in a neat little square.

There’s nothing quite as fun as revealing what once was a house, even if most of it is a post-bomb site pile of rubble (although I understand that the bomb didn’t actually hit the house outright) and I was very pleased to excavate a section of ceramic pipe, a Bakelite light switch with some wire still attached and a bit of glazed tile, along with a bit of what I thought might be fused glass from the heat of the explosion (but that is an un-educated guess!).  I left the glass in situ with the pipe, although perhaps the enthusiastic young archaeologist after me may have added them to a finds tray later on!

It was really fun to be on the field side of things (in contrast to the field notes side of things that records managers/archivists like me are used to) for a change and big thanks are due to the archaeology team who agreed I could come along.

Sarah Demb, Museum of London

Everyone feels that the dig is reaching a critical phase. Whereas the front wall and coal cellar of the house on Trafalgar Avenue are clear to see, the back half of the site stubbornly refuses to reveal its secrets. Was the bomb damage much greater here than previously believed? Was the building totally destroyed, right down to its foundations? For the moment at least, we are just trowelling through layers of rubble.

With temperatures in the 30s, Saturday was a day for finds’ washing. Neither the Harrow diggers nor the Camden Young Archaeologists, who worked on site in the morning, minded swapping their trowels for a washing-up bowl of muddy water. And all the time we continue to find evidence for what the house looked like before it was destroyed by that V2 rocket. A fine red marble moulding, perhaps from a fireplace, came to light today. And we know that the cornice, the ceiling and perhaps the door frames were finished with highly decorated plasterwork in ‘Wedgwood’ blue.

Francis Grew, London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre Manager

As per usual, we started with an introduction to the area, looking at old maps and comparing them to the surviving built environment around us. Then it was into the trench to carefully scrap away at the layers of earth that hold Burgess Park’s history within. We find that 30 minutes in the trench is just about right before people start to get too hot, so we swap them over to the finds washing which takes place under the cool shade of the horse chestnut tree.

Volunteers play a huge part in the running of the Museum, especially within the Museum’s Department of Archaeological Collections and Archive. Over the two weeks of this dig 15 people have volunteered their time to help out with the supervision of the schoolchildren, both within the trench and at the finds washing tables. Our volunteers have included current students of archaeology, current Museum volunteers, work experience students and unemployed people looking for some extra skills to add to their CVs. We’ve also had volunteers from a range of backgrounds join us including France, Spain & Japan, each sharing knowledge of archaeological practices from their home country and picking up tips from our methods of community engagement.

 Many thanks to all the volunteers who have played a big part in this year’s community dig.

Adam Corsini, Museum of London

Our Walworth students made excellent progress on excavating and processing finds from No. 84 Trafalgar Avenue. As we delved deeper into the trench we started to unearth more complete and substantial remains, especially building material of the original properties. This included huge pieces of walling with original plaster still attached and whole floor tiles which were cemented together.

An interesting find was the base of a ceramic vessel with the mark ‘Alfred B. Pearce and Company – 39 Ludgate Hill, London’. Back at the Museum of London I was able to discover a porcelain cup with the same mark in our Ceramic and Glass collection! This local company was active from the end of the 19th century and supplied a wide variety of ceramic and porcelain tableware.

Excitement was also happening directly opposite us where a new trench was opened up by a very large trowel known as a JCB(!), supervised by archaeologists Sadie and Bruce from Musuem of London Archaeology.

An assortment of finds started to appear including a bicycle pump, pair of pliers, button, bead, slate pencil and fountain pen – all very personal and practical objects. Of especial note were two connecting fragments of a ceramic vessel baring the Margate coat of arms and motto: Porta Maris Portus Salutis. Unlike our local piece of pottery supplied from Ludgate Hill, this little cup may have travelled all the way from Margate, along the old Dover Road (now the A2) which leads all the way to the Old Kent Road.

With two more days to go, it’s a rush to see if we can find any more meaningful artefacts and archaeology. On Monday the first week of our training excavation commences and a number of us here at the Museum of London will hang up our trowels until next year’s community dig…

Glynn Davis, LAARC, Museum of London

See our Flickr photostream for more photos from Day 10 at Burgess Park

The digging is being supervised by Tom Hoyle, who works for Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA). This isn’t his first experience of community archaeology. Last year he worked on the Big Dig at the Museum of London Docklands. This was an indoor activity where families could learn how to dig in a replica excavation. The Big Dig will be running again on 24 and 25 July as part of the Festival of British Archaeology activities at the Museum of London and places on it can be booked on the day.

Tom is really enjoying the community dig at Burgess Park. He has worked at MOLA for three years and before that at Leicester where he found a Roman lead curse – the most exciting thing that he has ever found. Maybe Burgess Park will turn up something to rival this! Tom says he enjoys meeting the schools and helping them to learn about archaeology. As he says: ‘Every day brings a new challenge!’

Today also saw the marking out of the new trench which we will be opening up tomorrow. This trench will form part of the Museum of London’s training excavation which starts on Monday and runs for two weeks. We are excavating a trench facing onto Pepler Road, which should allow us to see what the houses were like on that road. We know that they are later in date than those on Trafalgar Avenue, so we want to see how they differ in terms of construction and the artefacts recovered.

In the picture above top, you can see archaeologist Ian Blair marking out the new trench. In the picture above, is Pepler Road, once a busy road with houses full of families living there. Today it is a road to no-where, as only one end of it survives, off Waite Street, before it becomes a meandering path through the park.

Jackie Keily, Museum of London

See our Flickr photostream for more photos from Day 9 at Burgess Park

At 10am on Valentine’s Day in 1945 a V2 rocket hit our area of Burgess Park.  Reports state that it fell in the gardens between Waite Street and Pepler Road.  18 people were killed, 49 were injured & 25 houses were damaged.  The house we are excavating was damaged beyond repair.  At 10am the majority of people were at work or school, 193 people lived in the vicinity of the bomb site.  Had the bomb landed in the evening the casualties could have been much higher.   

The full name of the V2 rocket is Vergeltungswaffe 2 (Reprisal weapon 2).  The rocket that landed at Waite Street was fired from German occupied Holland.  A V2 rocket would fire 50miles up into the air before plummeting to earth at such speed that the impact felt like an earthquake.  There was no warning and so the people who died were not in shelters rather they were visiting neighbours or at home, going about their everyday business.

Here is a list of those that died,
Thomas Richard Aplin (53) of Shakespeare Road, Lambeth at No. 112
James Wladen (81) and Sarah Ann (78) Brown of No. 80
Frederick Hastings (72) and Sarah Ann (69) Burgess of No. 78
Eleanor Dean (51), also Home Guard Sidney George Robert Easton (60) and Grace Mary Easton (58) W.V.W. of No 82 at No 112
Beatrice Violet (52) and Jean (12) Duncan of No. 72
Jack Horsman (52) of No. 76 At No. 82
Emma Alice Maggs (58) of No. 80
Charlotte Elizabeth Manley (74) of No 74
Florence Patient (47) of No 84
Beatrice Kate Sansom (70) of No 78 at No 112
Ellen Ward (69) of No 74 at No 112 (in garage)
Katherine Elizabeth Weightman (54) of 132 Cator Street at No 112 (in garage)

Sunday 18th Feb
Annie Harriett Purser (46) of 9 Limerick House, Sumner Road at St Giles’ Hospital

[Taken from FlyingBombsandRockets]

Pupils form a circle showing how big the crater was after the V2 hit. People who lived locally later said that they used to play in the crater as children.  They reported that the crater measured 40ft across and 10ft deep and there was an omnipresent smell of gas escaping from the severed pipes.

Charlesworth, T. 2000. The Story of Burgess Park. Groundwork, Southwark, London. Thanks also to David Benson, local resident.

Kate Sumnall, Museum of London

Moving into the second week and it was time for two Museum of London projects to meet as volunteers from the Museum’s London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre (LAARC) came along to dig and wash finds. Usually today’s participants pack objects at the LAARC as part of the Volunteer Inclusion Programme (LAARC VIP), but today they found themselves exposing more of the foundations to the coal cellar and removing another layer of material from the garden area. One lucky volunteer added to the number of coins from the site as a George VI coin dating from 1938 cropped up.

The trench is looking quite different to how it looked this time last week. We now have a nice clear line of bricks running through the middle of the trench, defining the different areas of No. 84 Trafalgar Ave. Some surfaces have been discovered and brushed clean and you can really get the sense that this was once a house with people living in it.

The surrounding area is also revealing itself through the finds that are being discovered, with a lot of material seemingly relating to the public house that stood nearby.

More school groups will be coming to the dig this week and the rest of the LAARC VIP Volunteers will be joining us on Friday.

Adam Corsini, LAARC, Museum of London

See our Flickr photostream for more photos from Day 7 at Burgess Park

Today the Rotherhithe branch of the Young Archaeologists’ Club visited in the morning, and the Central London branch visited in the afternoon. All the members were very interested in the local history, and of course the digging and cleaning activities! More evidence of The Victory, a pub on the corner of Trafalgar Avenue and Waite Street emerged from the trench including pottery, glass bottles and an interesting soda water siphon.

Due to the lack of weekday rush hour traffic I arrived earlier than usual which allowed me some time to familiarise myself with the park and buildings along Old Kent Road before the first group arrived. Having passed the unassuming art gallery on the corner of Old Kent Road and Albany Road every day this week it was only upon closer inspection that I noticed a blue plaque tucked away in a disused doorway. This blue plaque had been voted for by the local residents and installed by Southwark council.

After hearing visitors’ stories of how the area has changed in the last fifty years I decided to conduct some research into this building.

The building used to be called the Thomas A Beckett public house and above the pub was a gymnasium that was used by Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Frazier and Mohammed Ali amongst others when visiting London, but most famously by Henry Cooper, the British, European and Commonwealth boxing champion from 1954 – 68. The blue plaque commemorates Henry Cooper.

Further research about the building revealed that in medieval London the Archbishop of Canterbury’s authority ended at a stream and pond on the junction with Shornecliff Road called St Thomas–a-Waterings. The area was used for executions. The pub was originally named after this area.

The martyr Thomas  A Beckett (born 1118 – died 29 December 1170), gave a sermon at the Augustinian St Mary’s Priory in Southwark on 23 December 1170 which was seen as his last public act of defiance before his assassination. A pilgrimage developed following his death between Southwark and his shrine at Canterbury. St Thomas-a-Waterings became a resting place on this pilgrimage route and is referred to in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.

An incident in 1888 caused public alarm when ‘a shiny black bag’ was left in the building containing “a very sharp dagger, a clasp knife, two pairs of very long and very curious looking scissors and two preservers”.  At the time the Whitechapel murders were ongoing and unsolved and the discovery of the bag led to the arrest of a suspect however it was not Jack the Ripper. The murders remain unsolved to this day.

The last notable historical connection I discovered was that after the gym above the pub closed, the rooms were used by David Bowie in the early 1970s as an audition and practice area for his band which later released the album Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. Please have a look at the building next time you pass it, and if you have any information about the buildings on Trafalgar Avenue or the surrounding streets please come to the excavation and tell us your memories

The first week has been a great success and all the different groups have had a hands-on experience of archaeology. I hope that next week will be as successful and that the sunshine continues.

Dan Nesbitt, Museum of London

See our Flickr photostream for more photos from Day 6 at Burgess Park

Remember the face?  Here it is with the other shards we found to fit:

Our pottery specialist, Jacqui Pearce, says :

The face is outlined in relief, as are the nose, mouth, eyes and beard. The only indication of costume is a deep ruff, which is clearly shown surrounding the neck and giving the head a sharply defined appearance that became popular in the late Elizabethan period. The ruff was a detachable collar that fitted over the shirt and all round the neck. It developed c. 1570 from the increasingly elaborate pleated collar worn by gentlemen from the 1540s onwards. The fashion lasted for about a quarter of a century and in its most extreme form, during the last decade of Elizabeth’s reign, it could span the width of the shoulders. By c. 1610, the end was in sight as turn-down lace or linen collars began to displace the ruff in fashionable costume. Those of lesser rank did not attempt to ape the costume of their betters, so the ruff remained largely the preserve of noblemen and gentlemen. The short pointed beard is also typical of the fashion amongst gentlemen during the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth. 

Was the jug directly related in some way to the playhouse? Could it even have been specially commissioned, perhaps as a portrait of a known figure of the time? Whether or not a direct portrait was intended, the Shoreditch bearded man is represented as a fashionable gentleman or nobleman of the latter part of the reign of Elizabeth. The execution of the features falls more in the realm of caricature than of faithful rendition, so we shall probably never know his identity. However, the location of the find, in debris deposited following the demolition of The Theatre, shows that it was in all likelihood used in the immediate vicinity. If so, then it is not too far-fetched to suppose that it was used by those who frequented the venue and attended or were involved in the productions that took place there.

Could this be the face of the  Bard or one of his associates or characters?  Could this jug have once been an example of Tudor marketing and merchandising, Burbage trying to make yet more money from his Theatre goers with some commemerative items?  We shall probably never know for sure, but the argument is compelling and as Jacqui later told us about this unique find “[there are] no parallels of this kind of decoration are known of to date”.

A bit of a recap…

When we first arrived on the site it was a rather unprepossessing 20^th century warehouse with some surviving Victorian walls.

Archaeological investigation is built into the planning process for new developments to prevent important archaeology from being lost, so after doing a Desk Based Assessment (DBA) which is a piece of historical research including checking old maps, other historic documents, the geology of the area and archaeological reports for digs in the local area.  The DBA helps to form an idea of what we might expect to find and we use it to design the first Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI).  A WSI is a document setting out what we will do for each phase of archaeological work.

So armed with DBAs and WSIs, machines mattocks and trowels in 2008-9 we archaeologically evaluated the site.  In an evaluation we dig test pits or trenches to determine if there is anything that may require a more thorough investigation, it corresponds to an archaeological testing of the water.

Fortunately, no basement had ever been built on this site, the result – archaeology!

Some more of the archaeological story so far…

When archaeologists write reports, we have to follow a set format.  When we discuss the site we start by talking about the earliest activity and then work forward to the present.  The language is also a little formal, but it is an official document and will be used by the client in some of their dealings with local planning authorities.

However, here we will talk about the site as it is being dug, from now to then:

Then…

Sealed below the concrete floors was a 19^th century cobbled yard. These cobbles had in turn had sealed layers of demolished 18^th century terraced houses that had once lined the street frontage, with gardens to the rear and can be seen on historical maps.  Some of these historical maps are available to se online via MAPCO’s database:

http://www.motco.com/default-Markou.asp 

Below the 18^th century buildings were found earlier, 17^th century structures which we have interpreted as being a part of the brew house and bakery complex providing the for nuns of Holywell Priory but more of nuns, dissolution, beer and pies anon.

However, it was from under the garden soils that what we had hoped for but dared not expect to find emerged, the jewel in this site’s crown.  Removing the garden soil revealed the curiously polygonal wall of The Theatre and a hard gravel surface, all that seemingly remained following its sudden dismantlement in 1598 (and therein lies a tale of which also, more anon). 

Here are Heather and Val planning The Theatre remains:

Here is a plan of The Theatre remains:

It was hard to suppress the excitement at the finding of these remains; here were Burbage’s very walls (brown on the plan) and the gravel yard surface (biege on the plan), while it may sound like a very mundane feature, was the very surface upon which the groundlings stood to watch the entertainments of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Richard Talton, Will Kemp and a host of others, some of whom will be introduced to in later posts.

The curious case of the dog…

Retuning to the 18^th century gardens mentioned before, for it was while digging through these we had one of those poignant moments that archaeology can so often provide.

We found the remains of a small dog, he was about the size of Cocker spaniel, had been laid out carefully, as if asleep, and tucked in beside him, was his bowl.

This then was the story of a personal or family sorrow, a real human moment encapsulated in the ground, one that only archaeology can connect us with.

This is why archaeology is so important, we are miners of moments, taking glimpses, often so very fleeting, of such human events and with those we can repopulate and personalise the events of the past that history would simply have overlooked.

Pottery, pits, postholes and walls are all grist to mill of archaeology but they are all also connected to the people who created them, people not so unlike us.  Some of them even kept dogs and loved them enough to have performed this touching ritual.

LP Hartley wrote in the Go-between: “the past is foreign country, they do things differently there”.  But we often find that on the human scale this is not always so.

And back to now…          

In later posts we will bring you more stories great and small, human and historic: of earthquakes, dancing, entertainment, legal disputes, beer and pies and of how the Tower Theatre Company is planning to protect The Theatre with a theatre.

There’s many a slip twixt cup and lip…

We leave you now with another exciting find:

Charlotte is holding an almost complete goblet that was found in a deposit just beyond The Theatre’s outside wall, we will learn more from our about this find from our pottery specialist and will update you as soon as we can; it raises some tantalising questions!  But for now I will fumble up a loose adieu!

Useful inks:

Tower Theatre Company: http://www.towertheatre.org.uk/

Tower Theatre Company’s new theatre and The Theatre: http://www.thetheatre.org.uk/index.htm

Footage of the 2009 evaluation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=savcpQFVu8w

MOTCO UK directory and image database, antique maps, prints and books:

http://www.motco.com/default-Markou.asp

Museum of London: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/english

Museum of London Archaeology: http://www.museumoflondonarchaeology.org.uk/English/

As well as digging holes in the ground at Burgess Park, we’re also digging through the Census returns for the houses we’re finding – and the current work is on what used to be 84 Trafalgar Road. Since the records are not published for 100 years, we can only see the censuses up to 1911, so can find out who lived in the houses when they were new, but not when the bomb fell. Here’s an overview of what we’ve discovered so far.

1871 – The Davis family, all born locally, lived at No 84, a husband and wife, 5 sons (aged 13-25), 1 daughter (aged 11) and a niece (aged 8). Mr Davis was a cashier for a firm of solicitors, 2 of his sons were clerks and another tailor. The younger children were at school.

1881 – Miss Sarah Wild was head of the house, living on independent means with 2 nieces. All 3 were born in Oldham, Lancashire, and on the day of the census, 2 other ladies from Oldham were staying with them.

1891 – No 84 is now split into two households. Albert Worsley, a goldsmith, originally from Norwich, his wife and 5 children (a son (11) and 5 daughters aged 10, 9, 7, 5 and 1) lived in the larger part of the house. But 3 rooms were rented separately by Thomas and Florence Smith.

1901 – Just one family living here again. Head of the household is Alfred Baker, who 10 years earlier lived next door at No 82 with his mother and sisters. Now he is married with a daughter, Myra, aged 9, and the family has a servant living in, so must have been quite well off. He worked from home as a Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

1911 – The house was still the office for recording Births, Marriages and Deaths, but the Registrar is now Mr Followes. His wife is dead, and his eldest daughter Elsie (19) works packaging medicines. His other 4 children were still at school. They have a servant who comes in by day, and they occupy 6 rooms in the house. The other 3 rooms are let by Margaret Edsall, a widow of 35 with an 11-year-old son and a daughter of 8. Mrs Edsall looks after an invalid at home, perhaps one of her children.

So an interesting range of people have lived at No 84 – we’ll keep you posted if we find out any more about any of them.

You can search the census for your own ancestors at Ancestry.co.uk

Roz Sherris, Museum of London