No precious coins or jewellery found, but Top Town dig yields important clues about medieval Grimsby

                                            

All very interesting - the dig has revealed new clues about the Grimsby of yesteryear

AN archaelogical dig has opened a window into the life and times medieval Grimsby.

No buried gold, silver or gems have been found, but experts from York Archaeology have scooped up  remnants from scraps of leather shoes to potery and fish bones  at Grimsby’s Freshney Place redevelopment site, near the historical Flottergate area.

The excavation has been undertaken  about two to three metres  lower than the modern ground level and is thought to have been the probable ground level of Grimsby in medieval times (approximately 450AD to 1600AD).

The finds - made between last October and this week - seem to confirm that this part of town was once home to  a leather workshop.

Says Phil Moore of dig co-ordinators BWB Consulting: "The wet nature of this site means that there was always the potential for finding preserved organic material - wood or leather, for example.

"You may think that damp conditions would cause these to rot away, but the soil can actually contain very little oxygen, which stops the microorganisms that prompt decomposition from surviving here."

Louise Jennings, North East Lincolnshire Council's heritage officer, has welcome the discoveries.

"You could well imagine people of the time making leather aprons or shoes on the site.

"Being so close to the sea, it’s understandable that people would have fish and shellfish as part of their diet, so the appearance of oyster shells and fish bones isn’t surprising.

The items found have been removed to York Archaeology’s conservation laboratory for cleaning and further examination, with a view to them being returned to the town and  put on display in the future.

Cllr Hayden Dawkins, NELC's portfolio holder for tourism and heritage, comments: "This is wonderful to see - knowing that a whole world is right under our feet is truly fascinating.

"It is so important that we understand our past and have the ability to teach younger generations about how the Grimsby of today came about."