Lost centuries of St Osyth

Back in the seventh century, Viking pirates sailed up a muddy Essex creek. Legend has it they captured a lonely nun who, when offered a choice between her 'modesty or her mortality', chose to die. The nun carried her severed head up the hill to her church where she collapsed. Where she lay a spring bubbled up.

The nun was St Osgyth, or Osyth, the wife of the Saxon king of Essex, who chose the veil rather than consummate her marriage. The site of her death became a shrine and a busy settlement grew up. In the 12th century Richard de Belmais, bishop of London, founded a large Augustinian priory in the middle of the village. This became a powerful establishment, which, by the time of the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s, was one of the wealthiest Augustinian monasteries in Europe.

A few years ago a local boat builder noticed some decayed timbers sticking out of the mud in St Osyth Creek. The tides gradually revealed more of these timbers, which are on a significant bend in the channel. Could they be the remains of a medieval wharf that served the town in its early days?

Time Team was also interested to find out whether they might be the key to unlock a bigger mystery. The present town of St Osyth seems to date only to the 15th century but the famous priory is much older. There must have been a busy settlement servicing it – so where was the original town of St Osyth?

Time Trail

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Medieval monasteries are Mick Aston's first love in archaeology. Indeed, he's the author of the recently revised Monasteries in the Landscape, one of the standard texts on the subject. So the chance to track down the origins of the medieval town associated with the priory of St Osyth was bound to capture his enthusiasm. Unfortunately for Mick and the Team, this didn't turn out to be a straightforward task.

Many medieval towns, especially those associated with monasteries or other Church land, were deliberately planned settlements: the 'new towns' of the Middle Ages. Streets, markets, buildings and land holdings were laid out in a regular pattern, with the Church itself acting, in effect, as a speculative developer. Even towns that were not formally planned tended to develop in common or predictable ways.

At St Osyth, though, there were few signs (for example) of the characteristic development around a market place, with long strips of land leading off from the road frontage. Here, instead, there seem to have been relatively small land holdings where shops and stalls once stood facing onto the market. Most of the finds made by Time Team dated from the Tudor and Stuart periods, just before and during the century or so after the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s. These painted a picture of a town in which higher-status dwellings and occupation were centred around the priory and church, while lower-status occupation and industry (such as the brick kiln and ship-building or breaking workshops excavated by Time Team) were found on the lower ground near the bend in the river.

Some of the tradesmen who would have made their livings in St Osyth in the medieval era were identified from the names in historical documents, such as those dating from the introduction of the poll tax in the late 14th century. As well as common trades such as those reflected in the names Carpenter, Potter and Brewer, others included Chapman (which meant a small trader), Chancellor (a court official or usher) and Gauger (a customs or excise man). Sixteenth-century documents show a greater range, including Tanner, Glover, Butcher, Weaver and Mariner.

Previous investigations of medieval towns by Time Team have included the now abandoned city of Roxburgh, in the Scottish Borders in the 2004 series. The Team recreated a medieval market for this programme, which featured many of the kind of tradesmen who would also have been found at St Osyth. These included a fletcher, a wood turner, a leather worker and a weaver.

Information on other Time Team digs covering a similar period can be found on the Medieval era, Tudor and Stuart pages.

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