Newham Museum Archaeology Project Archives
Newham Museum Service, 2000. https://doi.org/10.5284/1000328. How to cite using this DOI
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This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Primary contact
London Borough of Redbridge
Lynton House
255 - 259 High Road
Ilford, Essex
IG1 1NN
England
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 265
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000328
- How to cite using this DOI
Forecourt of Old Leyton Baths (LE-LB 93)
Overview
The site is located on Old Leyton High Road south of the junction of Lea Bridge Road at the forecourt of Leyton Baths. Leyton High Road is a continuation of Hoe Street and is one of the two principle London to Essex routes through the parish linking the medieval settlements of Low Leyton and Walthamstow. It was known from earlier maps that there was considerable ribbon development along the High Road frontage with a concentration of properties "from the area of the present baths down to Capworth Street".
The proposed development of the Leyton Baths site, with the demolition of the existing building, the removal of the concrete and tarmac surfaces in the forecourt and the construction of a supermarket closer to the street frontage meant that the archaeological deposits would be destroyed. It was in the light of these considerations that a strategy of preservation by record, an open area archaeological excavation, was decided upon.
The excavation
The excavation revealed a sequence of stratified archaeological deposits across the site dating from the medieval period until the twentieth century.
The earliest evidence for human activity that appears in the archaeological record was dated to the medieval period. This consisted of drainage channels and post-holes probably associated with arable farming activity. A possible medieval building was recorded, represented by beam slots. Unfortunately there was no evidence to suggest the function of this building. However as all the other features in this phase have been interpreted as agricultural activity it seems likely that this building would have been part of a medieval farm.
In the sixteenth century the building was abandoned and demolished. Field boundaries appear to have been altered with the deliberate backfilling of existing ditches and the cutting of new ditches. It may be that the archaeological record reflects the widespread land re-organisation that occurred during the 1500's.
In the seventeenth century an acceleration in the accumulation of stratified deposits occurs. First a sequence of dumped deposits, possibly for soil improvement purposes, pitting, probably horticultural purpose, and the introduction of a field drain, composed of broken tile in a v-shaped cut. Next a period of ploughing followed by a further period of pitting. The pattern of stratigraphy and archaeological features described above were consistent with an intensification of farming and/or market gardening. This activity was probably stimulated by growing urbanisation that was happening in the area to the east of London and particularly in the Lea Valley.
The first of the post-medieval buildings appears towards the end of the seventeenth century representd by a construction layer and a series of probable floor surfaces. Repairs to the floor surface indicate the building to have been in use for some time. Residential use is implied by pitting activity close to this building interpreted the disposal of domestic refuse. Pottery analysis of this phase indicates that the property was occupied from the seventeenth century until the early eighteenth century, circa 1720.
In the eighteenth century there was a second phase of residential redevelopment, with the buildings of the previous century demolished and new buildings erected. This is represented by a series of brick foundations from two buildings, a cobbled yard and a garden. Both substantial brick structures, the full extent of which can be seen in the detailed plans of the properties drawn up for the 1932 demolition contract. One of the buildngs fronted the High Road and may have had a mercantile as well as a residential function, the other was a large private residence which would have held a large household with accompanying servants. Clearly the area in the eighteenth century had become fashionable and well-to-do.
The coming of the railway and accompanying sharp rise in the population increased pressure on land development and it was probably during the latter half of the nineteenth century that the two buildings were partitioned into smaller units. Towards the end of the nineteenth century there was further subdivisions of the proporties and the erection of a new building. This narrow building fronted onto the High Road and may have had a mercantile and/or residential function.
The final phase was the demolition of all the standing structures right across the site to make way for a public bath house. This was completed in 1934, but was itself demolished in 1994 in advance of the construction of the new Tesco superstore.
The excavations at Leyton Baths have produced an important, and first, insight into the development of Leyton from a rural to urban environment, together with a substantial body of evidence for the changing nature of material culture.
