Pub grub from 1600s found at Dudley market site

Shells of oysters - a popular and cheap fast food 400 years ago - are among the finds by a team of archaeologists working in Dudley as redevelopment work begins on the town's market.

They have uncovered the two former market buildings, once known as Middle Row, which formerly occupied the central part of the market place in the High Street.

Not a lot is known about the buildings. Records and maps show their locations but do not hint at what they were used and the team where even unsure if any parts of the building still remained.

They have spent the last two weeks digging down into the soil to catalogue and photograph the buildings and the finds within before work is allowed to continue on the £6.7 million of improvements to the market place.

Among the finds are a set of limestone walls that indicate the outline of the two original buildings, a brickwork floor and the markets original 22 ft well.

Archaeologists, from SLR Consulting, have also found remnants of clay pipes, porcelain, broken glass bottles, believed to have once held wine and hundreds of oyster shells – a fast food from the 17th to the 19th century.

Although it is unclear exactly what the original market buildings where used for, it is believed at least one may have served as an ale house or pub.

Timothy Malim, technical director of SLR Consulting, said: "Middle Row would have been built as a speculative development within the old open medieval market.

"It would have been the vibrant centre of the community, and the large quantities of oyster shell we are finding provides evidence for the kind of food that the ale houses could have been selling there.

"Such details provide a sense of place for the community and help bring history alive for shoppers in Dudley today."

Having carried out research the team believe the buildings were built towards the end of the 1600's and were eventually demolished towards the middle of the 1800's.

Richard Woolley, a member of the archaeological team at the site, said: "People have been really intrigued by what we have found at the site.

"The building existed here for more than 150 years, but we don't have much written evidence to go off apart from maps from the time and building censuses.

"This excavation has told us more about the market, but there is still a lot of things that can't be answered.

"As part of the construction work the site will be levelled off and the majority of the structure will remain preserved under the new market."

The next phase of the work will see the toilet blocks next to the current excavation site demolished.

These toilets, built in the 1980s, sit on top of an original underground Victorian toilet block that conservation officers at the council hope to locate.

Councillor Judy Foster, cabinet member for regeneration, said:

"I'm delighted that this exciting archaeological evidence has been uncovered as we undertake the redevelopment of the market place – linking our past, present and future together.

"It was always known that a programme of archaeological work would be required and this is a very exciting opportunity for us to learn more about the structures within the central part of the market place.

"I would like to remind visitors and shoppers that the town is still very much open for business and thank everyone for their patience as we undertake the work."

To facilitate phase two of the scheme the market traders have relocated to temporary stalls on the other side of the fountain with overspill at Stone Street Square.

Dudley town centre and the bus station remain very much open for business. All car parks around the town centre remain open.

The full project is programmed for completion in the first half of 2015.