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.

Boston Pranksters

Prior to the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835, towns were guarded (more or less) during the day by constables and at night by watchmen. At Boston a watch house stood at one end of the old Town bridge (see below) which was demolished in 1913 and, according to an old diary, the watchmen were called ‘Charlies’ who in the winter wore ‘three decker’ topcoats, and carried big rattles and lanterns lit by tallow candles.

The watch house that stood on the old Town Bridge.

Boston had its fair share of young men who, with the absence of a modern Police Force, delighted in playing pranks under cover of the night and here are two examples.
On one occasion a ball was being held in the rooms above the old Butter Market (below) and a certain Miss Tunnard who lived in Wide Bargate was to attend.

The old Butter Market.

The house in Wide Bargate where Miss Tunnard lived.

She ordered a sedan chair and when the bearers arrived they were invited indoors out of the frost and snow. After a short interval the lady appeared, and the bearers, having refreshed, were prepared to resume their duty but to their amazement the sedan chair had disappeared! A search was made in vain, and the lady missed the ball. The chair was not discovered for many days until it was seen in a pond of the adjoining paddock (now the Central Park) where it had been thrown by the ‘Jokers’ and become covered with ice and snow.
But the best ever prank must be the following. A waggon laden with wool arrived opposite the Red House in the Market Place too late for delivery, and the horses were taken out and the vehicle left there for the night. Then the pranksters came along and saw their opportunity, the waggon was unloaded and taken to pieces, and both vehicle and wool were then carried through the narrow passage to Crown Courtyard, and there re-erected and re-loaded in the courtyard. Next morning when the waggoner and the residents of the locality found the waggon and its load standing in the back court they declared it was the work of the devil.

The brick building on the left below was known as the Red House and the passageway on the extreme left is the narrow passage that the dismantled waggon was taken down to be re-assembled in the courtyard at the bottom.

Market Cross and Buttercross

The structure shown here once stood in the Market-place and was taken down in 1730. It was used as a market cross and is mentioned in 1639, 1645, and 1654 but there is no record of when it was built.

The Corporation paid £630 for taking it down and building a new Buttercross (below) on its site to be used as a market for the sale of butter, cheese etc. The room above was the Assembly-room, a place for transacting public business, and holding public meetings. It was completed in 1732. The turret and clock, with the wind dial, were added in 1745.

This building was taken down in 1822 when the present Assembly Rooms were built.

The Buttercross

In the Market Place, opposite to the end of Dolphin Lane stood the Buttercross (above) a large building of an oblong shape, open below on all sides, and supporting on stone pillars, a spacious assembly room, in which most of the public business of the borough was transacted.

It was built in 1732 and the turret and the clock, with the wind dial, were added in 1745. It was demolished in 1822 and the clock was put on a building (below) that stood on the present site of Barclay's Bank.