shoes&pattens
5

15

Shoes from London sites, 1100-1450

Other examples of this type had morę than one vertical thong. The most complete of these has three remaining, one on either side and the third in the middle of the instep (Fig. 16). It is an ankle-shoe and probably survives to its original height, although even this is not certain because it has been extensively repaired both on the sole and upper, and subseąuently cut up for reuse; the ąuarters are almost entirely lost. There seems to have been an opening at the instep - though it is not known if the sides overlapped - and, sińce one of the side thongs has four loops but the central thong only three, it is likely that this boot also was laced continuously with a single drawstring.

The early/mid 13th century (Fig. 17)

It is to the first half of the 13th century that the earliest substantial assemblages from the London waterfront belong. Important groups were found at Seal House (two successive deposits containing 21 and 9 registered shoes respectively) and Billingsgate (three deposits, 8, 6, and 24 registered shoes). These are summarised in Tables 1-2, where it should be noted that the groups from each site have been amalgamated, sińce they are too smali to support individual statistical analysis and, in any case, show little perceptible difference in the types represented.

It is immediately obvious that the Seal House and Billingsgate assemblages are very similar (Tables 1-2). The ratio of shoes:ankle-shoes:boots is similar, and the same rangę of

fastening types is represented in almost identical proportions. Nearly all the shoes appear to have been assembled with rands, and the soles have ąuite a pronounced waisted shape, generally with a round or oval-shaped toe (see, for example, Figs. 21, 24). As was invariably the practice in the 12th century, the uppers are mostly of one-piece ‘wrap-around’ construction, with inserts added where necessary, but there are for the first time several examples of shoes madę in two main sections - vamp and ąuarters - with seams on both sides of the foot (Figs. 25, 28). This is a type of construction found sporadically throughout the later 13th and 14th centuries but which did not