Excavations at 150 Stratford High Street, London E15, found evidence for Saynes Mill, a tide powered grain mill of medieval origin, converted in 1745-62 into a pumping station for the West Ham Water Company with an engine installed by John Smeaton. The large-scale reconstruction meant that there was limited survival of earlier buildings, but many later structures survived almost intact and stretches of the quays that flanked the Waterworks River were also recorded. The excavated remains of both the buildings and revetments spanned the period from the late 15th to the late 19th centuries.

THIS paper draws attention to a category of official English seals used in connection with quality control and taxation in the textile industry from the late fourteenth to the early eighteenth centuries. Some dies and a large number of the leaden seals that were once attached to cloths have survived. The alnager, the inspector of newly woven cloths, was an officer of the Crown, and it is clear from documentary sources from at least the sixteenth century onwards that many of the dies he used in sealing the cloths examined were cut under the same arrangements, and possibly by the same craftsmen, as dies for the national coinage. There are several instances of closely parallel designs, though at most periods the majority are different. The importance of alnage seals to contemporaries can be appreciated if they are seen, not only as official seals of approval of the quality of a commodity that became England's single most significant category of traded goods, but also as a form of tax receipt, since the alnage system included the levying of a subsidy for the Crown of a few pence per cloth when it was sealed. The seals, which may be compared with hallmarks on precious metals, were put on each individual saleable cloth (not normally on the outside of a bale, though if a traded textile was used as a wrapper one might appear in this position by chance the term 'bale seal' is misleading, and should be avoided in the present context). Without this seal of approval no cloth could legally be sold at the market. Cloth seals were attached to the textile and struck with dies in a single operation, similar to that for producing hammered coins. The precise period of use of many of the varieties of seals has not yet been established and there are many points of detail relating to their use that are imperfectly understood. For the subject of this present paper it would be useful to know how many dies were cut and in use at any one time, and how long it was likely to have been before they needed to be replaced. Several aspects of the complicated history of the developing system of cloth sealing in England and other manufacturing countries on the Continent have been discussed elsewhere.

Since the 1980s inscriptions with names, dates and symbols along the central bar on the inside of milled window leads have been recognized and recorded. Dating to between the first quarter of the 17th and the first decade of the 19th centuries, more than 170 different variations have been noted, not only on finds from the UK but also on those from several colonial settlements in North America. This paper draws together a dated series of these leads using a standardized set of recording conventions, providing a comprehensive catalogue and framework for future research.

The 1956 investigation of 3—4 Trump Street in the City of London by Ivor Noël Hume revealed amongst other discoveries two medieval wells. One of these wells, which was backfilled during the 17th century, contained a variety of finds including ceramics, iron cramps, fragments of a wooden bucket and glass alembics or retorts. Excavation of the basal portion of the second well revealed a significant 16th-century finds assemblage. The wooden objects recovered included bowls, dishes and plates, two spinning tops, a sandglass endpiece and a fragment of a cask headpiece. Glassware present consisted of drinking vessels and urinals. The metalwork included a pewter spoon, two lead objects and 136 pieces of brass sheeting and wire, which were components for dress accessory buckles with bow shaped frames. These items comprise: 43 relating to buckle frames plus one complete buckle with iron pin; 44 to buckle plates; 23 to strapends (with a further 9 which might have been for either of the latter two categories); 7 decorated shapes of uncertain function and 5 examples of material relating to mounts. The remaining material consists of miscellaneous offcuts, trimmings and waste, plus one fragment of wire. These components were all discarded at various stages of manufacture, which allows the process to be studied and reconstructed. The mass production of cheap sheet metal buckles during the early 16th-century was an important technical development, as these buckles could be manufactured almost anywhere with only a few tools and a supply of sheet metal and wire. Previously this material has been described as copper alloy, but metallurgical examination has now determined that the major elements present were copper and zinc so the material should be described as brass.

This book brings together for the first time the astonishing diversity of excavated furnishings and artefacts from medieval London homes. These include roofing and other structural items, decorative fixtures and fittings, and assortment of culinary utensils, writing instruments, and toys and weights. Illustrating some 1,000 items, the catalogue provides a fascinating account of how metalwork and glassware manufacturing trends changed during the period covered, while close dating of many of the finds has resulted in many new insights into life at the time.

Excavations in 2001 to the south of Newgate Street, London EC4, throw light on an area associated with publishing, writers and bookselling, and served by a large number of taverns and hostelries. These provided food, drink, entertainment and regular meeting places for figures from the worlds of literature, science and art. Selected assemblages of artefacts including pottery, clay pipes and glass, as well as environmental remains, may relate to these establishments and help evoke the character of the area. One of the most remarkable finds is a delftware phallic drinking vessel, unparalleled in archaeological contexts.

"Archaeology in Washington. By Ruth Kirk and Richard D. Daugherty." Archaeological Journal, 166(1), p. 260