The working life of Museum of London

Our excavation in Burgess Park has sadly now finished.  The machine arrived yesterday and we filled in the trenches.  Today the cabins will be collected. 

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

Two trenches were excavated at Waite Street,  Burgess Park, Southwark. The difference between the two trenches reveals how the area developed over time. Trench 1 revealed a mid-Victorian house built to a high standard whilst Trench 2 exposed a later Victorian house built under completely different conditions. Some Roman pottery (Samian ware) was also found in the Trench 2 which gives us information about the earlier use of the whole site.

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

To begin our day, we had an introduction into the project, discussing the various techniques and tools we needed to use throughout the week, along with the local history of the area.

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

‘Is this supposed to make us like archaeology?’ One girl from the Harrow Young Archaeologists Club evidently had her doubts, as she began trowelling away demolition rubble during the baking heat of Saturday afternoon. Yet half an hour later she was had become so absorbed in her task that the leaders had the utmost difficulty prising her out of the trench!

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

Today was the antepenultimate day of our community dig and last day of school groups! We were joined by Year 7 pupils from another local school – Walworth Academy – and although the weather started off shaky, it turned into a scorcher by the afternoon.

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 excavation continues and today we were helped by pupils from Camelot Primary School in the morning and Cobourg Primary School in the afternoon. A big thank-you to all the pupils who took part today; I think you can see from the photos that they had fun!

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

84 TRAFALGAR AVENUE

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