The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
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• 220 • John Sch<strong>of</strong>ield<br />
continuous fa<strong>ca</strong>des and one room<br />
deep, may be inferred <strong>from</strong> the<br />
absence <strong>of</strong> rubbish pits near the line<br />
<strong>of</strong> the street. One-room timberframed<br />
houses <strong>of</strong> thirteenth- or early<br />
fourteenth-century date have been<br />
ex<strong>ca</strong>vated at Lower Brook Street,<br />
Winchester, and more substantial<br />
examples in stone <strong>of</strong> the fifteenth<br />
century at St Peter’s Street,<br />
Northampton (Williams 1979). Work<br />
in Perth has uncovered graphic<br />
evidence <strong>of</strong> poor lifestyles, in singleroom<br />
buildings with walls <strong>of</strong> posts<br />
and wattle which were probably both<br />
living and working space for cobblers<br />
and other artisans (Figure 12.5).<br />
Medieval towns, to varying<br />
degrees, had building regulations that<br />
sought to prevent fires and improve<br />
Figure 12.5 Three houses and a latrine in thirteenth-century Perth at Kirk sanitation and drainage. Sometimes<br />
Close.<br />
the observance or flout-ing <strong>of</strong> these<br />
Source: Scottish Urban Archaeologi<strong>ca</strong>l Trust, <strong>from</strong> Yeoman 1995<br />
regulations <strong>ca</strong>n be seen in the<br />
archaeologi<strong>ca</strong>l record: for instance,<br />
walls only 1 m wide dividing properties in London. Buildings <strong>of</strong> stone lasted longer, and <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
formed links with former topographic arrangements among the comparatively restless mass <strong>of</strong><br />
timber-framed buildings, which were easily taken down and reassembled, sometimes on a different<br />
site.<br />
Evidence <strong>of</strong> manufacture and crafts<br />
Today, in many towns, we <strong>ca</strong>n see a Butcher’s Row or Ironmonger Lane. It is usual to think <strong>of</strong> the<br />
craft areas <strong>of</strong> medieval towns as being clearly demar<strong>ca</strong>ted one <strong>from</strong> another; but this is only part<br />
<strong>of</strong> a more complex picture.<br />
Certainly, a common feature <strong>of</strong> twelfth-century and later urban industries is their nucleation.<br />
Not only do some industries occur in towns but not in the surrounding countryside, but there are<br />
distinct zones within towns. <strong>The</strong> existence <strong>of</strong> these quarters in the twelfth century <strong>ca</strong>n be<br />
demonstrated both by street names, and also by the concentration <strong>of</strong> certain types <strong>of</strong> industrial<br />
waste, such as large, brass-melting crucibles and bronze-<strong>ca</strong>sting mould fragments <strong>from</strong> certain<br />
areas <strong>of</strong> the City <strong>of</strong> London. In <strong>Britain</strong>, as in France and Germany, such quarters seem to have<br />
been more prevalent in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and signifi<strong>ca</strong>ntly not later, when, after<br />
the plague, these lo<strong>ca</strong>l boundaries appear to have broken down.<br />
Sometimes any zoning will be expli<strong>ca</strong>ble in terms <strong>of</strong> the requirements <strong>of</strong> the industry. <strong>The</strong><br />
fringes <strong>of</strong> a town will always be attractive to those industries that require large areas for storage<br />
or preparation, for example timber yards, pottery or tile kilns and tanneries. Most urban crafts,<br />
however, did not require distinctive workshops and many are therefore archaeologi<strong>ca</strong>lly almost<br />
invisible. We <strong>ca</strong>n study those industries that required the provision <strong>of</strong> heat, or abnormally high<br />
quantities <strong>of</strong> water or other unusual conditions. Medieval crafts that have left traces include the<br />
making <strong>of</strong> pottery and tiles, various stages in the manufacture <strong>of</strong> cloth, making salt, bells, tanning