Pittenweem, 5 Mid Shore

NO50SW 79 548 024.

'Excavation in the garden of 5 Mid Shore revealed a 17th century stratified rubbish deposit containing local and imported pottery, clay pipes, animal bones and miscellaneous ironwork. The level representing the decade 1630 to 1640 was particularly rich in Dutch and French wares, and produced a brass pin box decorated with a two-headed eagle.'

C Martin 1978.

'Continuing excavation below the 17th century rubbish deposit revealed a stone-built wynd associated with other structures. The wynd became redundant c.1640 when it was demolished and used as a tip. Pottery beneath the wynd paving suggests that it had been built in the early 16th century. A lower deposit containing medieval sherds was excavated to a total depth of 3.5m at which level 12th century pottery was encountered. Some imports were noted.'

C Martin 1979.

Excavation (by C Martin in 1979-80) within the adjacent gardens of 5 Mid Shore and 2 School Wynd revealed a previously-unsuspected paved road or wynd leading from the High Street to the shore. Pottery from immediately beneath the paving indicates that this was laid down some time around the mid 16th century. The lower course of the wynd ends abruptly at a drop of about 3m caused by the digging of a terrace into the slope to provide level space for the construction of a row of houses along Mid Shore. This feature was masonry-revetted, and the cutting thus formed was subsequently blocked by the construction of a reducing wall which butted onto the W side of the wynd and extended about halfway across it. This feature became a receptacle for a mass of rubbish (including ash, shells, animal and fish bones, pottery and clay pipes) which were evidently thrown in through a gap in the reducing wall over a relatively short span of time; no humus was observed within the clearly-defined tip lines. This gap was subsequently filled with loose rubble and the ash pit (level I) became covered by about 1m depth of humic overburden.

The ash pit thus forms a closed archaeological context. It contains little English or Scots pottery, but is rich in imported wares of the 16th and early 17th centuries. The types identified include Hispano Moresque lusterware, Spanish olive jar, Portuguese tin-glazed wares, Saintonge wares, Loire wares, Central French chafing dishes, Normandy and Rhenish stonewares, Delftware and various Dutch and North German cooking wares. The character of the material suggests that it was derived from a collection built up over half a century or more within a household whose members had extensive continental trading links. Its deposition in bulk may have formed part of site preparation for the construction of housing along the shore.

Three coins of Charles I found stratified just above the wynd level indicate a terminus post quem of 1632 while the Dutch origin of most of the clay pipes indicates deposition before the general cessation of Dutch pipe exports into central Scotland (and the consequent development of Edinburgh-based domestic production) in the mid-century. A date of deposition in the later 1630's appears probable, and would accord with both the available documentary and the changing social habits of the time.

The overlying humic layer (level II) was greatly disturbed and probably formed through rubbish dumping and cultivation between about 1640 and about 1710. No clear stratigraphy was apparent although high concentrations of bone, pottery and clay pipes were found throughout. Most of the pottery was of green glazed fabric typical of products from Throsk, while sherds of continental wares were few in number and probably derived from level III.

Above this deposit was a layer of mussel shells and material from the later part of the 19th century (level III). Several pipe fragments have been discovered during gardening within this layer and a considerable quantity of late 18th century pottery was found in 1982 during a watching brief over gas pipeline trenching along the frontage of Mid Shore. The absence of pipe fragments in this later level presumably reflects the changing social fashion from smoking to snuff-taking in the later 18th century.

The pipe sample from these excavations thus comprises: a small, well-stratified and predominantly Dutch group of c. 1630/1640, a larger and effectively unstratified group of c. 1640/1710, and a small group of later pipes, none of them earlier than 1800. The clear division between imported Dutch pipes and domestic types that is apparent in the mid 17th century may, with caution, be applied regionally. It is noteworthy that Dutch pipes sent to Scotland were of relatively poor quality (the market not being thought important) and display a wide range of forms. Casual acquisition through seafaring contacts appears to have been a more significant trading mechanism than the import and sale of substantial batches.

Locally-manufactured pipes found within the assemblage include those of the Banks family. A pipe found in level I bears the initials of William Banks, the only Scottish pipemaker known to have been active in the 1620's and 1630's. The largest group of inscribed pipes (44 in number) found in level II is assigned to his son Thomas who flourished between 1647 and 1661. Some of these pipes can be assigned to the same mould, suggesting the local sale of batches of pipes. The products of other pipemakers from Edinburgh, and less commonly, from Glasgow can be identified, while two unmarked pipes are apparently of English origin.

(Location map and photograph of excavations: numerous illustrations and comprehensive inventory of clay pipes found).

C Martin 1987.