19540 shoes&pattens 8

98

Shoes and Pałtens

Table 17. The wood used for patten soles.

	Alnus sp. certain possible		Salicaceae certain possible		Fagus sp. possible	Unidenti- fiable	Total
13th-early 14th c.	1	1	—	—	—	-	2
Late 14th c.	2	—	2	2	1	1	8
Early 15th c.	3	2	3	1	-	1	10
Total	6	3	5	3	1	2	20

135 Wooden patten (early/mid 15th-century). The leather hinge is nailed into a rebate, and nails hołd the thick, single-layer back-strap. Scalę 1:3.

sp.), but the genera cannot be distinguished an-atomically. Alder is soft and light, with a smooth grain that is easily worked. Resilient and ex-tremely durable when wet, it has been the favourite materiał for clog-making in England right up to the present day (Vigeon 1977,2). In modem times it has been norma! practice to cut out the soles roughly when the wood is still green, to leave them to dry out, and then to complete the finał shaping after any initial shrinkage has occurred. A similar method was probably used in the medieval period also, as indeed might be in-ferred from the illustration in the Mendel House-book (Fig. 124) which shows drawknives hanging on the wali - presumably to be used for pre-liminary roughing-out - and a smali adze being used for trimming.

Among the willows and poplars several species might be suitable for patten-making. Salix alba and salix fragilis are lightweight and tough, with a resistance to splintering. Although not generally very durable, they will last almost indefinitely if kept constantly wet and for this reason were used morę recently to make paddles for waterwheels and steamers. Populus nigra, now fairly rare but

136 Wooden patten (early/mid 15th-century), complete. The straps are of single-thickness, the hinge of double-thickness, cattle-hide. Scalę 1:3.