Wooden Bucket-3

Artefact Alive

The well and the bucket are both of early 15th century date. This date is based on the pottery which was found with the bucket and on the stratigraphic position of the well relative to the other layers on site. The bucket would have been made by professional specialist coopers, craftsmen who probably worked outside the city in woodland areas, close to their raw materials. They would have brought their products to sell in town markets.

Buckets of this type were made in a range of sizes and had many uses. This one had clearly been used to raise water from the well which presumably served a nearby hall. Perhaps the chain broke or the water-hauler let the bucket fall by accident. Whatever the circumstances, it lay there buried over three metres deep and perfectly preserved for 600 years until archaeologists uncovered it.

The bucket is not currently on display. Unfortunately, it was not possible to keep in its original complete state as it was too fragile and the wood continued to shrink over time. It has been 'flat-packed', the wood and the iron components both stored at the Archaeological Resource Centre in conditions which will best preserve it. The iron is stored in a plastic air-tight box with silica gel to keep it dry; the wood is stored at a stable temperature in appropriate levels of humidity.

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Find number 1976.7, 4176; catalogue number 8742. Height 424mm, base diameter 265mm, top diameter 365mm.
For more information see: The Archaeology of York 17/13, Wood and Woodworking in Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York by C.A. Morris; 17/15, Medieval Finds from York by P.J. Ottaway and N. Rogers; 10/6, Buildings and Land Use at and around 16–22 Coppergate by R.A. Hall and K. Hunter-Mann; and Finds Research Group 700-1700 Datasheet 19 Medieval Coopered Vessels by S.J. Allen.