An excavation in Devon has turned up a child’s shoe which could be hundreds of years old.
Archaeologists carrying out a dig in the heart of Newton Abbot were stunned when they came across the ancient footwear.
The leather shoe, which has been well-preserved in the clay soil at the site, could date back as far as the 1400s.
Child's 600-year-old shoe is found at Newton Abbot: Well-preserved leather sandal dates back to Henry V
The artefacts were uncovered during an excavation in Newton Abbot
Other finds include wooden barrels and a millstone used for making flour
The team is continuing to dig at the site in the hope of further finds
By Ryan O'Hare for MailOnline
14 October 2016
An excavation in Devon has turned up a child’s shoe which could be hundreds of years old.
Archaeologists carrying out a dig in the heart of Newton Abbot were stunned when they came across the ancient footwear.
The leather shoe, which has been well-preserved in the clay soil at the site, could date back as far as the 1400s.
Archaeologists carrying out a dig in the heart of Newton Abbot in Devon have unearthed an ancient leather shoe which could date back to the 1400s
The team involved in the dig have voiced their excitement at finding such an everyday object intact after centuries in the ground.
‘It's this day-today stuff which is exciting,’ said Simon Sworn, of Cotswold Archaeology and the site's senior archaeological project officer.
‘The job is not all about kings under car parks,’ he added.
Along with the shoe, a number of other artefacts have been unearthed at the site.
Other historic treasures include an iron spur from a child's boot, three wooden barrel bases and a 27 inch (70 cm) diameter Dartmoor granite millstone, used to grind wheat into flour.
‘We will keep going down until we hit natural geology - or water at the site makes it unsafe,’ added Mr Sworn.
The team is hoping to uncover more household artefacts dating back to the 13th Century, when Newton Abbot was a hastily-built new town of its day.
Other historic treasures include an iron spur from a child's boot, three wooden barrel bases and a 27 inch (70 cm) diameter Dartmoor granite millstone, used to grind wheat into flour (pictured)
A number of well-preserved wooden barrels were found in waterlogged the clay soil (pictured)
Mr Sworn explained: ‘As the name suggests, Newton Abbot was essentially founded as a medieval new town but there is some evidence for 6th/7th Century activity in the immediate vicinity of the site so we may find earlier remains lurking below the medieval burgage plots.’
He added: ‘We've been learning a lot about how the town developed and how it came to be the place we live in - and who the people were who made Newton Abbot what it is today.’
Conditions at the site have enabled artefacts to be so well preserved due to a lack of oxygen in the soil.
Newton Abbot in Devon was founded as a medieval new town. But researchers say there is evidence of 6th and 7th Century activity around the excavation site so earlier remains could be found
Conditions at the site (pictured) have enabled artefacts to be so well preserved due to a lack of oxygen in the soil
The waterlogged conditions have enabled organic materials such as leather and wood, which would have rotted long ago, to last for centuries.
‘I've never worked on a site where so much local interest has been shown,’ added Mr Sworn.
He added: ‘A lot of perceptive questions have been asked and we've been happy to answer them.
‘Over the next few weeks, we will gradually peel away the medieval layers and go deeper.'
The waterlogged conditions have enabled organic materials such as leather and wood, which would have rotted long ago, to last for centuries
The archaeological team say that due to evidence of other historical activity in the area, it is hoping to uncover more artefacts which could predate the leather shoe by hundreds of years
The team is hoping to uncover more household artefacts dating right back to the 13th century, when Newton Abbot was a hastily-built new town of its day. Pictured is the town centre
A LEATHER SHOE IN A TURBULENT ENGLAND
Little is known about the owner of the small leather shoe unearthed in Newton Abbot.
Archaeologists at the site believe it could date back to the 1400s, a time when Henry V and Henry VI were on the throne.
Whoever owned the shoe would have lived in a time of unrest, as England's royal lineages battled for the throne in the Wars of the Roses.
Living in Devon, they may also have been affected by a regional dispute between the Bonvilles and the Courtenays from neighbouring Cornwall.
Read more: Child's 600-year-old shoe is found at Newton Abbot | Daily Mail Online
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