Writing about an archaeological excavation for the general public is not always easy, particularly before the post-excavation work is done. This well-illustrated booklet of 64 pages tackles this task commendably, translating the excavation and research into an interesting narrative, albeit one that feels slightly formulaic. If asked to carry out a similar project, a writer could do worse than to use this as a template.
The Liberty of Norton Folgate lay immediately north of the City, between it and the parishes of Shoreditch and Spitalfields. MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) excavated the site in advance of the area’s redevelopment by British Land. A number of historic buildings within the footprint of the development were retained. The site lies just north of the Hospital of St Mary in Spital Square which MOLA previously excavated.
Popular books like this are unusual. Once an excavation has been completed no more might be heard of the excavation until the publication of a lengthy professional report. So while the booklet gives only limited detail, we get a good idea of what was found. However, there is no section indicating where the reader might look if they wanted to find out more about the area, the site or other nearby excavations.
The site and finds well-photographed. Captions are clear and indicate if the objects depicted are not those found on site. The photograph of the burial of two horses, however, is not very informative and one caption mentions a crown and harp on a clay tobacco pipe. This detail is barely visible on the photograph; a selective enlargement would have clarified things. The booklet makes good use of reconstruction drawings and historic maps. These would be greatly enhanced if the site boundaries were superimposed, to allow readers to orientate the site and features more easily.
The text is neither too technical nor too elementary, but occasionally archaeological terminology creeps in. ‘Inhumation burial’ and found ‘in the same context’ carry meaning that might not be clear or relevant to a non-archaeologist; ‘burial’ and ‘in same place’ might be better. Likewise, the archaeological hedging of ‘the group of burials formed an approximate line’ grated a little; the burials were in a line.
I would have liked to hear more about the buildings survey. Although several pages of the text are devoted to the late Victorian and Edwardian warehouses and pubs, there is little analysis. A reader will struggle to get a feel for the character and variety of the place. Norton Folgate’s location has been key to the area’s historic identity. Roman burials, the Hospital and the migrants and refugees, Huguenots, Irish, Germans and Jews, all came here because of its location. Although they all get a namecheck, we never get a feel for the bustling multicultural, and sometimes contested, neighbourhood has occupied the area since the seventeenth century. Much of the project area remained marginal and had escaped even the recent gentrification of Spitalfields until this redevelopment. Its warehouses, roughly cobbled streets and the fragrant Fleur de Lys Passage have been the backdrop to films and photo shoots, a venue for nightclubs, and a canvas for the area’s street artists but this part of the area’s past is absent.
The sense of marginality could have been developed as a useful unifying theme to the narrative. Nevertheless, the booklet presents archaeology and the archaeologists well and the interested public rarely gets to read so much so soon after the excavations are completed.