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Time Team 2004
Roxburgh

The lost city of Roxburgh.

The foundation charter of Selkirk Abbey first mentions the existence of the Scottish Borders town of Roxburgh in the year 1113. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Roxburgh became a thriving centre of trade with a similar status to Edinburgh. (See Ancient Roxburgh.)

The town was ravaged by fire on three separate occasions and occupied a vital position during the Scottish wars of independence. It was delivered to Edward III in 1334 and remained under English control until 1460. It had lost most of its population even before the siege that ended with the Scots recapturing the town and historical records from 1501 suggest that the settlement had been abandoned by then.

The area of the deserted medieval town is just fields today, and the landowner, the Duke of Roxburgh, had never permitted them to be excavated before. Time Team had a marvellous opportunity to reveal the layout and archaeology of a place that had been unoccupied for 500 years.

Trenches and street plans
After a massive geophysics survey covering some four hectares, a street plan for the town started to appear. Ploughing over many years meant that the survey did not reveal as much as had been hoped. But investigative trenches did identify various dwellings and thoroughfares, including Market Street, the main north-south road through the town.

Different types of 12th- to 14th-century pottery were discovered in archaeological features ranging from building beam slots to rubbish pits and human remains. Evidence was also discovered for defence works of the town in trenches near the outskirts of the settlement. A clay bank and outer ditch contained associated postholes, some of which had carbon deposits indicating burning.

Finally, a stone tomb-like structure was discovered in the south, which was thought to have been associated with the church of St James – one of four that are known to have existed in Roxburgh.

Time Team would like to thank Historic Scotland, without whose help and expertise the excavation at Roxburgh could not have happened.

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Time Team's medieval market:

The wool weaver

Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.

Weaving history
During the Time Team excavation in the Scottish Borders town of Roxburgh, Nicky Saunders set up her stall to demonstrate how wool was processed and textiles were created in medieval Britain. Nicky belongs to an experimental archaeology group called Lothene Experimental Archaeology.

With about 15 years' experience in experimental archaeology, she has gathered a wealth of knowledge about materials that we know were used by people in the past, yet are hardly ever discovered during excavations. Archaeologists know from a whole range of sources that textiles undoubtedly played an important part in any local economy and there's even evidence for widespread trade in textiles throughout the ancient world. Yet few textiles are found in the archaeological record because they decay very easily unless trapped in very specific stable environmental conditions.

Natural dyes
'All of the wools that I used are dyed with natural dyes,' says Nicky. 'The yellows (from onion skins), greens (from vegetables) and oranges (again from onions) are all relatively cheap and easy dyes to produce because they come from local food plants. Any vegetable matter will give you a brown dye if you mash it up and boil it.'

To fix the dyes a mordant is required. 'A mordant acts as a fixative, and in medieval times they used a moss,' continues Nicky. 'Today we have to use an alum because most of the mosses used in medieval times are now protected because they're endangered and often rare. The mordant basically prepares the wool to accept the dye. If it wasn't used the colour would just wash out.'

Card weaving
After the wool has been prepared and then spun into a thread it can be weaved. 'The type of weaving I was doing at Roxburgh is called card weaving,' continues Nicky. 'It uses small cards with holes, which hold the threads apart. By rotating the cards both backwards and forwards you separate the threads for weaving. The combination of rotations produces different patterns and you can even weave letters into a design.'

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The fletcher

Good arrows
The stall next to Nicky Saunders' wool weaving stall belongs to fletcher John Hamilton from re-enactment group Carrick 800. Documentary records show that a fletcher actually lived in Roxburgh and probably would have sold his wares in the local market in medieval times. John's stall was laid out with all of the tools necessary to make arrows and add their stabilising feather flights.

'You can imagine that there would have been a division of labour in medieval times. One person would have made the shaft of the arrow, a blacksmith would have made the points and another person would have applied the feathers. It wouldn't have been unreasonable for a whole family to be involved with the different roles,' says John.

Goose feathers
Geese were popular birds for the fletching trade. 'Their feathers are ideal,' he says. 'The fletchers would have to organise themselves with a supply. There are only so many feathers in a bird and if you plucked them all it would take a while for them to grow back. The bird may also object of course!'

In making an arrow, the shaft has to be prepared, the point fitted and feathers attached with animal based glue and thread. 'The hardest part of making an arrow is carving the nock (the slot to receive the bow string),' says John. 'A well-nocked arrow should remain on the bow string if you let it hang, then with just a flick of the finger, or any vibration, it should release. A skilled fletcher would get this right every time.'

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The wood turner

Pole lathe
One of the stalls in Time Team's medieval market belonged to wood turner Mark Sanderson from living history society Anmod Dracan. This society of experts and researchers specialises in entertaining and educating by giving active demonstrations.

Mark used a pole lathe to turn a wooden bowl on his stall. 'I used a piece of ash for the pole of the lathe because it's naturally springy and good for driving the lathe,' he says. 'And I used a selection of birch and beech wood to make the bowls.'

Staying sharp
Pumping his foot up and down to pull the ash pole strap and drive the lathe, Mark made the shavings fly. 'It takes me about an hour to produce a bowl,' he says. 'With a pole lathe the piece of wood you're working turns towards you on one stroke and then away as the pole is released. The key is to cut when the wood spins towards you and then draw the chisel back when it returns. That way the chisel stays sharper longer.'

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The leather workshop

Cobblers and cordwainers
Anmod Dracan re-enactor John Watson had his stall next to the wood turner. John is a skilled leather worker and was at Roxburgh to demonstrate his techniques and display his wares.

'Most of the leather work that I do is making shoes,' says John. 'But I also make other things as well, like belts and purses. Originally you would have had different tradesmen making the different items. For example, somebody who made shoes was called a cordwainer and somebody who repaired shoes was called a cobbler.'

Butcher's leather
Leather would have been obtained from a butcher and then prepared by a tanner before the leather worker came into the picture. Buying your shoes wouldn't necessarily have been a financial transaction in the economy of the time, as John explains: 'You wouldn't need to have cash to buy your shoes in lots of cases. People could easily have bartered for the things they wanted. Like items or skills.'

Fashion of the day
So what was the fashion of the day? 'People would have needed practical shoes for working in,' says John, 'But some people didn't go in for the normal "turn" shoes. If you really had an eye for fashion you would probably have worn poulaines (very pointy shoes), which were completely impractical but showed everybody that you probably didn't have to work for a living.'

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Ancient Roxburgh

From royal burgh to fields
Ancient Roxburgh was once one of the richest and most powerful cities in Scotland. Together with Edinburgh, Stirling and Berwick-upon-Tweed, it was one of the four great urban centres of medieval Scotland.

Made a royal burgh during the reign of David I (king of Scotland from 1124 to 1153), it was granted the much-coveted authority to mint coins of the realm. At the peak of its prosperity, no fewer than five royal mints were located there. The city also had at least three churches, a castle and royal residence, several schools, civic buildings, a number of markets and even a monastery. It was a centre of trade, not only regionally but internationally. Visitors included bankers from Italy and wool merchants from throughout Europe.

Today, however, all that is left of the old town of Roxburgh (or Rokesburg, as it used to be known) lies beneath fields on a grassy peninsula where the river Teviot joins the Tweed. Razed to the ground in 1460, when it was recaptured by the Scots after almost a century of English control, this former centre of Scottish kings lay largely uninhabited and forgotten. By 1649, the church of St James, which Time Team tried to locate during its excavations there, was virtually the only structure left standing. It served just six communicants.

A lost Edinburgh
Roxburgh first rose to prominence under King David I, who is credited with bringing stability to Scotland after decades of internal strife. He chose Roxburgh as his power base, built a castle and royal residence and awarded the town its royal charter. The historical records show David using Roxburgh as his principal seat of government, holding major councils and issuing important proclamations there. If history had turned out differently, Roxburgh could have taken the place of Edinburgh today.

One of the main reasons why it didn't was its location in the Scottish Borders. As the great defence work partially excavated by Time Team demonstrated, with its evidence of burning, Roxburgh's past was often a violent one. It was on the front line of the various wars between the English and Scots during the 13th-16th centuries, and it was besieged on numerous occasions. These included a number of occasions during the city's most traumatic period, from 1296 to 1318, when it was caught up in Edward I's wars against the Scots. Attacked and occupied by each side in turn, its inhabitants endured an almost continual threat throughout this period.

Men, cattle and sheep
One famous attack took place in 1313, when the Scots deliberately timed their assault for a feast day so that they could catch the English unawares. Sir James Douglas, who led the attack, dressed his men in black cloaks and ordered them to approach the city on hands and knees under cover of darkness. The few sentries left on duty thought the dark shapes they glimpsed moving across the fields were cattle and failed to raise the alarm. Those English forces that could retreated into the castle's tower, but caught unprepared and without provisions or arms, they were forced to surrender after a couple of days.

The English sentries were not being stupid in mistaking Douglas's men for cattle because the trade in cattle hides played a major part in Roxburgh's prosperity and the fields around Roxburgh would have been well stocked with them. Cattle hides, together with wool, which was also produced in large quantities locally, were two of the most valuable commodities in the Middle Ages Europe. Both were produced in bulk in this area, which was home to some of the biggest producers in Europe at the time.

They were probably traded at the annual fair held at the church of St James around the end of July and beginning of August. Traders, including the big wool merchants from Flanders, are known to have visited Roxburgh from all over northern Europe. The goods that were bought and sold there would then have been exported by sea through the port at Berwick, 35 miles away on the coast.

Roxburgh's end
A century of English control of Roxburgh ended in 1460 with Scotland's James II besieging and capturing its castle from the English. James didn't live long to enjoy his triumph, however. A cannon exploded when it was fired as part of the victory celebrations and he bled to death when his leg was severed.

Roxburgh never regained its former prosperity. When Berwick changed hands for the last time, when it was taken by Henry VII in 1482, it lost its port and access to the markets in Europe forever. Those of its people who had not already left gradually died out or moved to nearby Kelso. The royal burgh was no more.

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Other websites.

Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.

Historic Scotland
www.historic-scotland.gov.uk
Historic Scotland safeguards the nation's built heritage and promotes its understanding and enjoyment on behalf of Scottish ministers. Its website provides information on more than 300 properties in its care and Scotland's listed buildings and scheduled ancient monuments. It also contains resources for schools and details on technical conservation and research.

Lothene Experimental Archaeology
www.lothene.org
Lothene is an Edinburgh-based group involved in researching and recreating aspects of life in Scotland in the past. The group was one of those used by Time Team for the Roxburgh programme to recreate an 11th-century medieval market. As well as covering aspects of everyday life in Scotland during this period, their website contains a large amount of information on the early Anglo-Saxons, the Vikings, and 15th- and 18th-century Scotland. It is particularly strong on women warriors, and has an extensive section on Women as warriors in history, from 3500BC to the 20th century.

Carrick 800
www.maybole.org/community/organisations/
carrick800/carrick800.htm
In 1196, Carrick split from Galloway. A celebration of the 800th anniversary of Carrick becoming an independent part of Scotland brought together many individuals from all over the south of Ayrshire in a magnificent pageant held at Culzean Castle. The group set up to re-enact a famous battle is still in existence today as the Carrick 800 Battle Re-enactment Society. Members bring alive Scottish history in their spare time and tour schools with their re-enactments. This website reproduces material prepared for the 800th anniversary and includes photos and other information about Carrick 800, who were involved in Time Team's medieval fair at Roxburgh.

Anmod Dracan
www.anmoddracan.org.uk
Website of Anmod Dracan, the third re-enactment group who were involved in Time Team's medieval fair at Roxburgh. It contains sections on how the group organises its combat and living history displays.

Gazetteer of markets and fairs in England and Wales to 1516
www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/gazweb2.html
The Gazetteer is a catalogue of markets and fairs in medieval England and Wales between about 900 and 1516. This is the first comprehensive national survey. The project worked systematically through a range of sources to provide as much information as possible about each market and fair, with background information on places where they were held.

The entire report is available as a downloadable pdf file.

Auld Roxburgh
http://sites.ecosse.net/
therowans.roxburgh/book/
In 1984, Brian Wain, a keen local historian, wrote a short history of Roxburgh. This book is no longer available. However, he is currently working on an updated version. The latest version of this new work can be downloaded from the 'Download' page on this web site. It is hoped that the finished paperback should be available to purchase in the summer of 2004.

Scottish History Online
www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk
Extensive website dealing with the history of Scotland's modern, medieval, prehistoric, Pictish and Celtic past going back nearly 8000 years.

Scotland's Past
www.scotlandspast.org
Comprehensive and well-organised website dealing with all periods of Scotland's history from the Mesolithic era to the present day.

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Time Team 2004 Roxburgh

The lost city of Roxburgh.

Time Team's medieval market:

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Time Team 2004
Roxburgh