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Summary

Layers of medieval material of 14th to 15th century date, including leather shoe parts were revealed during repairs to the road in Friar Street.

Monument Type(s):

• FINDSPOT (Medieval - 1301 AD to 1499 AD)
• OCCUPATION LAYER (Medieval - 1301 AD to 1499 AD)

Description

A 14th to 15th century dump deposit of medieval material was revealed in the centre of the road in Friar Street during emergency repairs to a collapsed sewer. According to Astill (1979) Friar Street is thought to be one of the original medieval streets in Reading.

The layer comprised of a dark grey brown silty clay with frequent pieces of flint and measured 0.27m deep. It contained 13 sherds of 13th to 14th-century pottery, 70 pieces of animal bone, 22 pieces of roof tile and 68 pieces of leather, mostly comprising shoe soles. These leather pieces suggest the presence of shoemaking and leather working on or near the site.

The majority of the leather pieces came from one deposit. These included soles; partial soles; shaped upper parts (vamps); thin strips (straps, rands or welts) and unidentified pieces. The overall condition of the leather was very good, with the pieces fairly soft and not brittle, though some were slightly fragile. The thickness of the leather was typically 2mm, though several slightly thicker (3mm) fragments were present. All of the 15 sole pieces have the same form and shape, with a rounded seat, narrow waist and wide tread, and pointed toe. Only one sole had stitch holes present, which were small and square, along the side of one piece. Seven pieces were identified as vamp pieces (upper shoe parts). These have been formed with neatly cut edges, most often with some straight and some curved edges. As they were often found folded, in order not to cause damage them they were not unfolded to be laid flat. Of these, three have stitching along one or more sides which pierces one side of the leather only. Four further pieces have stitching along one or more sides where the leather was pierced all the way through. A single example of a circular (3mm diameter) lace hole was identified. Also recovered from this context were 18 thin pieces. Of these, two were identified as ‘latchet’ type straps due to their thin triangular shape, and one has two slots at the wider end. Rands were identified as thin strips (typically 5mm wide), the majority (10 out of 13) of which have a single row of stitches that most closely resemble tunnel stitches. These were thin strips of leather added between the sole and the vamp (upper part) to add reinforcement to the seam. The remaining pieces were fragments which did not appear to be neatly shaped, were ragged or had separated into two layers. Noted among these pieces was a small piece with two straight and one curved side, which closely matched the shape of the tread of the soles recovered from the same deposit. This appears to be an off cut formed when a sole was cut out of a blank piece of leather.

From the leather pieces recovered it is possible to identify the broad category of shoe being produced by the forms of the leather pieces. The thin triangular-shaped straps are ‘latchets’, which are threaded through two slots on a strap fixed to the other side and tied together to fasten the shoe at the front. This form of shoe is thought to have been popular throughout Europe in the late 14th and early 15th century. The total shoe assemblage suggests the product of shoemaking and leatherworking with suggest the former presence of a cobbler on or nearby to the site. Also the number of pieces without stitching indicate cobbling waste rather than simple domestic refuse. The lack of variation in the shape of the soles might suggest that they were made and deposited during a fairly short time period. However, this is not certain as a local typology has not been established and it is possible that the same form was repeated for a long period.

The pottery assemblage comprised 13 sherds of Surrey Whiteware of mid 13th–mid 15th century date. Most of the sherds are of ‘Coarse Border Ware’ type which is common in the town and are mainly glazed and unglazed body sherds. Within the assemblage was also a decorated strap handle found on Coarse Border Ware type jugs and cisterns of the mid 14th–mid 15th century and a glazed rim sherd from a jar mainly made from the later 14th–mid 15th century.

A small assemblage of 70 fragments of animal bone was recovered from three contexts. Analysis of the bone assemblage revealed the presence of a minimum of seven animals, including cattle, sheep/goat and deer (identified by a portion of antler). Another single, unidentifiable small sized animal was also revealed. Many of the bones (primarily the cattle bones) displayed evidence of butchery practices, with long bone shafts, ribs and vertebrae displaying numerous cut marks.

Twenty two fragments of brick and tile were also recovered from a single context (60). Two fragments have peg holes (one has both holes present). The plain pieces of tile are also likely to be peg tiles. This type of tile was produced from the early medieval period onwards, and is not closely dateable, however the uneven form and finish of these pieces suggests that they date broadly to the medieval period.

Three pieces of metalwork comprising iron nails were also recovered during the watching brief. These can only be broadly dated to the medieval or post-medieval period.

Overall, these in-situ 14th-15th century date dump deposits recorded in Friar Street are of particular note as they were in found in an area that was previously thought likely to have been extensively truncated by modern services <1>.

<1> Thames Valley Archaeological Services, 2013, Friar Street road repair, Reading, Berkshire - Archaeological Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SRM14521.

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