Surrey Archaeological Collections
Surrey Archaeological Society, 2003. (updated 2023) https://doi.org/10.5284/1000221. How to cite using this DOI
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- ADS Collection: 379
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000221
- How to cite using this DOI
SURREY ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS
Excavations at Battle Bridge Lane in 1995: medieval and early post-medieval development along Tooley Street, Southwark
IAN GRAINGER
Excavations at Battle Bridge Lane, Southwark, examined a large area to the north of Tooley Street â the line of the probable Saxon river bank and of a later medieval road. The site revealed a typical part of north Southwarkâs urban development during the medieval and post medieval periods, amplifying what was already known about the site from documentary evidence. The earliest remains included a number of ditches, rubbish pits, and dump layers of mid-11th to 14th century date. These were principally succeeded in the 15th and 16th centuries by two large ponds which may have been associated with local industry or recreation. Both were back filled in the 16th century with a large quantity of highly organic commercial and domestic refuse. In the later 16th and early 17th centuries much of the site was occupied by a series of gardens and yards. In one yard evidence was found for the small-scale manufacture of copper-alloy objects. Some of the listed copper-alloy waste (nos 45-69) appears to date from the late 16th century when a coppersmith, Olaf Burr, owned parts of the site. During the 17th and 18th centuries copper alloy metal working continued in a small workshop, and a number of buildings were associated with a documented brewery. Much of the evidence for the development and diversity of local industries in the later medieval and early post-medieval periods came from the wealth of well preserved faunal and floral remains.
