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What’s Been Unearthed At The Drypool Dig?

With excavations ongoing at the former Clarence Mill site, our cub reporter Angus Young gets an update on what been found thus far.

For the last six weeks archaeologists and around 100 volunteers have been peeling back layers of history at the site of the former Clarence Mill next the the River Hull. Covering roughly the size of a football pitch, the excavation aimed to dig deep into the story of the ancient parish of Drypool.

Mentioned in the Domesday Book, Drypool actually pre-dates Hull and is at least 900 years old so there was plenty to go at. Here, in chronological order, are some of the highlights of what they found.

A late 13th century ditch

Identifiable by its colour compared to the adjacent natural clay deposit, the discovery of a ditch might not sound very exciting but it confirms human activity at the site in the late 13th century. The team from the Humber Archaeology Partnership also located evidence of specially-dug pits from the period which were probably used as rudimentary toilets.

A 14th century jug

A sizable fragment of a jug, including its handle, proved to be one of the finds of the dig. The shape, colour and type of ceramic identified it as a piece of Humber ware pottery, probably made at either West Cowick or Holme on Spalding Moor where large-scale Medieval production sites are known to have existed.

Henry VIII’s defences

The team expected to see a small section of the base of a huge wall protecting a castle and fortress built on the orders of King Henry VIII between 1541 and 1553 and, as it turned out, they did. The northern tip of the defences runs through a corner of the site.

Drypool’s pool

Despite being named after a dried-up pool, numerous historical maps show evidence of a large pool or pond existing in the hamlet over many centuries before being filled in during the late 19th century. It was regularly used to dump rubbish and, as such, it provided a rich source of varied material during the dig with everything from discarded marbles to clay pipes, animal bones to pottery being found.

The most unusual and poignant item retrieved from the mud was the remains of a child’s leather shoe complete with a wooden sole and an attached calliper.

A vanished street

An impressive swathe of exposed granite setts mark the route of long lost Harcourt Street along with intact original kerb stones and iron gutters. The construction of the street in the mid-18th century marked the start of a population boom as the town of Hull across the river began to expand. With new housing eventually planned for the site, it’s hoped some of the original street can be incorporated into the development.

Early terraced housing

A dozen tiny terraced houses were built fronting Harcourt Street and the footprint of some of these have also been uncovered. They were built without foundations and trenches dug at the site vividly show how bricks were simply laid on bare earth. The ground-floor layout of some of the houses can also be traced, including kitchen tilework and blackened brickwork indicating where corner fireplaces once stood.

Timber Dock

People living in the houses would have looked out across the junction between the Timber Dock – built in 1850 as part of Victoria Dock – and the Old Harbour on the River Hull. During the excavation, old wooden sections of the dock became visible close to King Henry’s older fortifications.

With literally hundreds of objects either retrieved or left in situ, the site is being back-filled ahead of its eventual development. However, there are plans for a public event there next summer showcasing some of the finds as part of a joint festival being organised jointly between the Humber Archaeology Partnership and the nearby  Rooted in Hull community garden project with the idea of reviving the ancient tradition of the annual Drypool Feast celebration.

Angus Young

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