Monument record 10116 - Medieval tan pits at 54-60 Foregate Street

A number of medieval tan pits were recorded during archaeological investigations at 54-60 Foregate Street in advance of the construction of the Tatler Cinema in 1936. The pits were recorded during the cutting of the foundation trenches for the new building and comprised six lined and intersecting pits. However due to the location of the foundation trenches only two pits could be excavated in any detail.

In the first, northern most example, the pit was lined with well dressed ashlar blocks of sandstone and had an internal width of 1.67m. It had been cut to the boulder clay at a depth of 1.52m. In fill of the pit contained vegetable matter, principally chopped straw.

The second example was faced with a substantial form of wattle and daub consisting of vertical stakes of ash at least 0.10m in diameter set 0.23-0.28m apart. The stakes were then joined by a series of horizontal sticks driven into holes in the stakes at regular intervals while slender branches in-filled the gaps between them. As in the first example, this pit was cut down to the boulder clay at a depth of 1.55m. The fill of the pit included horn core fragments and several fragments of 14th-15th century pottery.

A third pit, although not excavated fully, also contained a substantial quantity of horn cores from oxen with traces of similar material from the remaining pit suggesting that tanning was being carried out in the area in the 14th-15th centuries. (1).

<1> Newstead, R (Prof.), 1939, Records of Archaeological Finds II-V, p80-81 (Article in Journal). SCH5702.