SkanI

>Moes from London sites, 1100-1450

37

The early 15th century (Fig. 59)

The latest shoes from the London waterfront belong to the first half of the 15th century and were found in three deposits. The condition of the leather and of the metal fittings is generally quite good, but there are far fewer complete shoes than in the preceding ‘Baynards Castle’ group and it seems that many were already in pieces (though not, apparently, deliberately cut up) when thrown away. One of the groups, from Swan Lane, is slightly earlier than the others and is best con-sidered separately. It is also by far the smallest (15 registered shoes). The other two groups are very large indeed and roughly contemporary: one, also from Swan Lane, contains 109 registered shoes, the other, from Trig Lane, 359 registered shoes.

There is little perceptible difference in com-position between the earlier of the Swan Lane groups and the large late 14th-century groups which preceded it (see above, pp. 28-36). The

59 Early 15th-century boot and ankle-shoes. One (bottom left) was certainly fastened with a buckie (now missing) and another (top centre) may have been. The third (bottom right) was laced at the side, and stitching shows that originally it had a repair sole. For linę drawings of the same or similar shoes see Figs. 67, 63 & 69.