Thank you to archaeologist Oliver Cook, our hosts AV Dawson and everyone that turned out to hear a fascinating talk about investigations into medieval and early 19th century Middlesbrough.
We started with a panoramic rooftop view over the original Port Darlington coal staiths site with the new 1830 worker town on the little hill to the immediate east.
Oliver Cook travelled over from Salford Archaeology and gave a fascinating presentation incorporating early maps and his excavation photos as well as finds. Those finds stretched back to a tiny piece of Roman pottery found in a ditch. Could the ditch possibly be Roman? There were medieval remnants, pieces of green glazed jugs through to 19th century drinks bottles from Middlesbrough company T Dent found in a cellar.
There were glimpses of a 19th century well, barrel roofed brick drains and a surprisingly well built cellar beneath a rare back to back terrace, Newcastle Row. By all accounts this was classic slum housing owned by Bolckow and Vaughan, notorious slum landlords.
One of the most tantalising finds was a stone wall found near the later 19th century (also demolished) St Hilda's church. Could this belong to the lost medieval priory chapel of Middlesbrough?
We hope to find out more later this week when a geophysical survey is carried out around that area.
(Look at the lower photo - can you see the green area to the right of the Transporter - that is old Middlesbrough centred on the old Town Hall which you can see is atop a slight hill. This is a slight rise above the marshy floodplain in the loop of the Tees that made it an ideal site for the planned town of 1830. Where we were standing is the site of the coal staiths for Port Darlington. That slight hill would doubtless have made the site an attractive one in the past to a medieval priory and maybe a Roman villa and/or Saxon defended site).
