Gold pieces retrieved from Thames River most likely part of elaborate Tudor era hat

Ancient Origins

Beautifully fashioned little gold fasteners that probably adorned a hat or clothing in the 16^th century have been turned up by eight people with metal detectors scanning the mud along the Thames River in London over several years. An archaeologist speculates the 12 pieces found over the years, all in the same place, belonged to a single piece of headgear that was blown into the river by a gust of wind. They think the person wearing the hat may have been on a ferry in the Thames.
The media are calling it a treasure hoard of Tudor gold, dating to 1500 to 1550, when the main way to get across the river was by ferry.
“Such metal objects, including aglets – metal tips for laces – beads and studs, originally had a practical purpose as garment fasteners but by the early 16th century were being worn in gold as high-status ornaments, making costly fabrics such as velvet and furs even more ostentatious. Contemporary portraits, including one in the National Portrait Gallery of the Dacres, Mary Neville and Gregory Fiennes, show their sleeves festooned with pairs of such ornaments,” says The Guardian in an article about the finds.
The fabric has long since worn away to nothing. Some of the pieces are inlaid with little bits of colored glass or enamel. In total they comprise a very small amount of gold but are legally treasure that must be reported to a British government finds officer, in this case Kate Sumnall of the London Museum. The museum hopes to acquire the pieces and put them on display after a valuation and inquest.

Jane Seymour painting by Hans Holbein, 1537; note the gold worked into the fabric along the collar and the gold and jewels and pearls on the hat. Jane Seymour was briefly queen of England as Henry VIII’s wife. (Photo by UVM.edu)

It is Sumnall’s theory that wind blew a fantastic, gold-adorned hat off someone’s head into the river. She said the pieces are of very fine quality workmanship.
“These artefacts have been reported to me one at a time over the last couple of years,” she told the Guardian. “Individually they are all wonderful finds but as a group they are even more important. To find them from just one area suggests a lost ornate hat or other item of clothing. The fabric has not survived and all that remains are these gold decorative elements that hint at the fashion of the time.”
The website A History of Tudor Clothes, written by Tim Lambert, says all people of the era in England wore wool, poor people coarse wool and the rich fine wool. Fashion was important to the rich, the article says.
Rich men wore trousers that were called breeches, tight jackets called doublets and a jerkin over that. They also wore a gown over the jerkin or later a cape or cloak.
Women wore a shift or chemise of wool or linen under their dresses, which were also of wool or linen. The dress was in two parts—a skirt and a bodice. Sleeves were detachable and were held on with laces. Over all this, working women wore linen aprons. The clothing was woven with silk or even gold or silver thread.
Lambert writes that all Tudors wore hats, in fact by law after 1572 all men except nobles were required to wear a woolen cap on Sundays.
In the 16^th century, buttons were decorative because most clothing was held together by pins or laces. Furs used in clothing included cat, beaver, rabbit, bear, polecat and badger. Dyes were vegetable-based and fixed with chemicals called mordants. Bright red, purple and indigo were the most expensive, so the poor wore brown, yellow or blue.
It’s rather unsavory to consider, but people who could afford it wore a container of sweet spices on their belts to cover up the smells in the streets. Lambert says, however, that it’s a myth that people of Tudor times were dirty and stunk. They tried to keep clean, he writes, but many people did have lice. Many lice combs were found on the wreck of the Mary Rose, he writes.

A 1547 illustration of the carrack Tudor ship Mary Rose, upon which were found many lice combs. (Wikimedia Commons)

Featured image: Twelve gold pieces of very fine workmanship have been discovered in the mud of the River Thames over the years by people with metal detectors. (PA photo)
By Mark Miller

History Trivia - Thames freezes

November 24

1434 Thames River froze from London Bridge to Gravesend; the frost lasted from November 24th to February 10th. 

1542 at the Battle of Solway Moss:  The English army defeated the Scots. The English force of approximately 3,000 was far outnumbered by an army of at least 10,000 Scots, but in-fighting among the invaders helped the English commander, Wharton, rout his foes in this surprising victory

Did the Thames really used to freeze over?

History Extra

The London Frost Fair, 1683-84, by Thomas Wyke

With the Sun shining and summer on its way, it’s hard to imagine that the mighty river could ever fully freeze over.
This article was first published in the April 2015 issue of History Revealed

Yet, the Thames froze at London at least 23 times between 1408 and 1814, though several of these events lasted only a few days.
The freezing of the river, where ice is now rarely seen, was caused by three factors. First, the climate in Britain was on average about one degree (Celsius) colder between about 1400 and 1800 than before or since.
Second, the Thames was then wider and shallower than it is today, as it is now restricted between solid embankments.
Finally, the numerous narrow arches of the medieval London Bridge partially blocked the water on the upstream side, reducing the flow.
During the big chill of 1683-4, the Thames froze for two months, with ice some 28cm thick. This provided a pleasant cold comfort for Londoners as the Thames became a stage for the most famous of the London Frost Fairs. The frozen festival featured horse racing, bear-baiting and puppet shows – all on the ice. It was described as a “carnival on the water”.
Answered by one of our Q&A experts, Rupert Matthews. For more fascinating questions by Rupert, and the rest of our panel, pick up a copy of History Revealed! Available in print and for digital devices.

History Trivia - Battle of Solway Moss: The English army defeats the Scots

November 24

 380 Theodosius I made his adventus, or formal entry, into Constantinople.

1429 Joan of Arc unsuccessfully besieged La Charité.

1434 Thames River froze from London Bridge to Gravesend; the frost lasted from November 24th to February 10th.

1542 at the Battle of Solway Moss: The English army defeated the Scots. The English force of approximately 3,000 was far outnumbered by an army of at least 10,000 Scots, but in-fighting among the invaders helped the English commander, Wharton, rout his foes in this surprising victory.

Divers stage emergency excavation of historic Thames shipwreck

Archaeologists fear climate change could destroy preserved remains of the London, which blew up off Essex coast in 1665

Dalya Alberge

A CGI reconstruction of the London wreck. Photograph: Touch Productions

 

Archaeologists will embark on an emergency excavation of one of Britain's most important shipwrecks on Sunday after discovering it is deteriorating at alarming speed because of the warmer waters caused by climate change.

The once-mighty 17th-century vessel, named the London, has lain in the muddy silt of the Thames estuary off the Essex coast near Southend-on-Sea for 350 years.

Built in 1656, she was in a convoy that transported Charles II from the Netherlands to restore him to his throne after Oliver Cromwell's death in 1658. One of the most illustrious ships of her day, her remains are now a time capsule of the 17th century.

English Heritage, the government advisory body, has commissioned Cotswold Archaeology to carry out a major excavation.

A latchet shoe recovered from the wreck of the London by diver Steven Ellis, who said the Thames silt kept artefacts in good condition. Photograph: Steven Ellis

Mark Dunkley, a marine archaeologist at English Heritage, told the Guardian: "It's rare for wooden shipwrecks of this age and older to survive to this extent." The hundreds of surviving wrecks are mostly later iron and steel ships.

Asked why the wreck is deteriorating now after 350 years, he said: "Through human-induced climate change, warmer water is moving northwards. That's allowing the migration of warm-water invasive species." He spoke of the need for action to stop warm-water ship-boring organisms eating away at timber and organic artefacts and prevent loose objects being dispersed.

The London met her end in 1665 when she suffered a mysterious gunpowder explosion. More than 300 lives were lost in a tragedy recorded by Samuel Pepys, the diarist and secretary to the Navy Board: "A little a' this side the buoy of the Nower [Nore], she suddenly blew up.

"About 24 [men] and a woman that were in the round-house and coach saved; the rest, being above 300, drowned: the ship breaking all in pieces, with 80 pieces of brass ordnance."

The diarist John Evelyn also lamented "the poor orphans and widows" left behind.

Initial finds include personal items such as this combined signet ring and pipe-tamper, as well as ship's fittings including cannonballs and an anchor cable. Photograph: Carol Ellis

The archaeologists are collaborating with Steven Ellis, a Thames estuary diver, who has been granted the government licence.

He too spoke of the need for action. During initial test dives, he spotted "loads of shoe soles". When he returned, they had been washed away, he said.

Ellis did, however, find a complete shoe that looked astonishingly modern, in superb condition considering its age. He said: "The Thames has got so much silt. That's why everything is in such good nick."

His other initial finds included personal items such as a bronze signet ring and clay pipes, as well as navigational dividers, buckets, pots and cooking utensils. He retrieved ship's fixtures and fittings such as door latches, an anchor cable and cannonballs.

Parametric sonar data suggest buried deposits beyond the visible remains. Other tests have uncovered extremely unusual female human remains.

The excavation will be complex. Though the wreck is only up to 18 metres deep, visibility is poor. Ellis said: "On a good day, you've got perhaps half a metre."

There are also strong currents and the site is at the edge of a shipping lane. "It makes it a little more hairy than most dives," he said.

A pewter pot recovered from the London. Archaeologists say warm-water organisms, brought north by climate change, will eat away at the wreck. Photograph: Steven Ellis

The London's final resting place was only confirmed in 2005. She is one of only 49 ships protected under the Protection of Wrecks Act in England, an indication of her importance.

Dunkley said: "Part of the excitement for us, as archaeologists, is to share with those people that can't access the London with a scuba tank."

The wreck offers insights into the navy when England was emerging as a global power, he added. "It allows us to share our understanding of how people lived, fought and died on this class of ship. The London fills a gap in our understanding of ship technology and ship construction."

The vessel was fitted for war when she blew up. The women on board were possibly officers' relatives. Perhaps they would have disembarked as the ship would have been fully prepared for war, Dunkley suggests. "Pepys talks of ladies being on board. We don't know whether they were guests masquerading as crew members, which happened in Admiral Nelson's time. Or whether they were guests of the lower decks."

Although she blew up, the ship seems to be pretty complete, lying in two sections. She was once 37 metres long by 12 metres wide.

Divers will excavate the bow, the hold, the main gun deck and the carpenter's and boatswain's storerooms. Finds recovered from the site will be curated, published and displayed by Southend Museums Service.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/may/16/divers-emergency-thames-shipwreck-climate-change-london