Some Oddments.

 An old bottle.

Thanks to Tony Pygott who informed me that William Towell was landlord at the Lord Nelson in 1841, the pub having previously been in the hands on Ann Towell in the 1820's and 30's. The pub brewed its own beer and was still brewing 30 years later. This dates the bottle to the middle of the 1800's. 

 A Steam train at the station.

 A jug with the Stump printed on it.

 A model of a Boston Deep Sea Fishing and Ice Co. goods wagon, the type that would have been used in Boston.

 A mug with the Boston Coat of Arms.

 Boston station, looking toward West Street crossing, c. 1965.

 Above and below: Boston Barracudas speedway badges.

 Below: The Boston Bowling Club badge.

Below: A postcard c. 1917.

Below: A platform ticket for Boston Station.

Buried bottle

Why would anyone bury beneath their kitchen floor a bottle filled with oil and with its neck jammed full of pins? In 1960 Mr. and Mrs. Forster, of 39 Norfolk Street , Boston were asking this question after they found such a bottle beneath their kitchen floor. It all came about when they decided to have a new floor in their kitchen to replace the original brick one.

39, Norfolk Street, Boston.

"The bricks were laid in earth," Mrs. Forster said at the time, "then beneath the earth was a layer of ashes, and beneath that a layer of chalk, and the bottle, standing neck down, was buried in the chalk." The bottle was cylindrical and was filled with what appeared to be a light oil. In cleaning it, Mrs. Forster would appear to have broken the seal for afterwards it contained a few air bubbles and there were none when she and her husband found it, and similarly some of the pins became dislodged from the neck and fell down inside the bottle.
From the obvious care with which it was buried, it would seem that it had a serious purpose and from its position in the chalk Mrs. Forster deduced that it had been there since the house was built. Incidentally, the bottle was buried directly in front of the outer door and about a foot inside the room. Could it perhaps have been intended to prevent evil spirits or witches or similar unwelcome visitors from entering the new house, or did some other strange belief or superstition lie behind its presence there?

Boston Big Dig

At the end of July/beginning of August, for three weeks, an archeological dig took place in the Market Place in Boston, here are some of the things that they found in those three weeks. The "diggers" were professional archeologists and also volunteers of all ages.
They opened four trenches, one near the Herbert Ingram statue, on the site of the old Butchery,

one at the end of Dolphin Lane, on the site of the old Buttercross,

one outside the old Corn Exchange Hotel where the present day Marks and Spencer's stands,

and one in front of the Assembly Rooms.

These are just a few of the many things that they uncovered.

A 16th. century brass hairpin.

A wooden flea comb.

Above and below: Clay pipes.

A dagger sheath.

Various pins.

pottery.

A snuff bottle.

A trading token.

An upper part of a medieval boot or shoe.