Knipsteeg 13 – 15 (2015, 2019)

Knipsteeg 13-15 corner of Ostrich Street

From May 13 to 29, 2019, The Sample BV an excavation was carried out at the Knipsteeg. The reason for the investigation was the planned new construction (plan 'De Speelwagen').

An archaeological desk study was carried out beforehand.1 Hoogendijk, T. (2015)
Archaeological desk research, Gorinchem-Knipsteeg 13-15, Hollandia series 521, Zaandijk.
PDF (25 MB) Based on this, it was concluded that a very high archaeological expectation applies to the plan area. Remains from the 13th century could be expected in the plan area. The aim of the excavation was to secure archaeological traces from the various periods of use of the location by systematically collecting and documenting archaeological traces and finds.

Excavation site with a water well in the middle.

The plan area is located in the medieval centre of Gorinchem. The oldest traces, a raised area and a moat, that were found during the research can be dated to the 14th century. Around this time, Gorinchem had already grown into a city of some importance under the lords of Arkel. Just west of the plan area was the medieval city wall.

Court of Arkel

In this first phase, the plan area will most likely have been part of a court area of ​​the Arkels.2 Stamkot, B. (2009)
Did Gorinchem originate from a court area?, in: Historical-Geographical Journal, No. 27, pp. 58–72.
PDF (9 MB)This court area consisted of the plots west of the church between Struisvogelstraat and the Krijtstraat. In the court area stood the inner-city residence of the lord of Arkel, the Hof van Arkel. During the excavation of the Krijtstraat in 20023Genabeek, R.J.M. van, et. al (2005)
Gorinchem Krijtstraat. Definitive Archaeological Research, BAAC report 02.060, 's-Hertogenbosch.
PDF (47,44 MB) remains were found that could be related to the Hof van Arkel and to the later Latin School. The plan area at the Knipsteeg was directly north of this excavation. The 14th-century moat that was found was very likely the northern border of the Hof van Arkel. The moat ran parallel to the current Knipsteeg in an east-west direction. Whether the moat surrounded the entire court area is not known and will have to be determined by possible future research.

Reconstruction drawing of the first exploitations by B. Stamkot

The location of the canal corresponds to a reconstruction of the reclamations from the period from the 10th century onwards. The reclamation ditches probably formed the basis for the parcel division of the (later) city. The canal is dug into a 14th-century raising package and dates from the same period. The canal is not a remnant of the older reclamation ditch, but is located in the same place. In this way, the canal respected the centuries-old parcel boundaries in the city. The canal was filled in at the beginning of the 15th century and will not have been in use for much longer than a century.

The layered filling of the canal is visible in the wall profile

Archival sources mention work on the demolition of the kitchen of the Hof van Arkel and the removal of the bricks around 1417/1418.4Vries, A. de (2017)
On the Castle to Gorinchem. The first construction phase of the castle (1412-1460), Historical society "Oud-Gorcum" yearbook 2017, Gorinchem.
PDF (2 MB) When removing and cleaning the bricks for reuse, the mortar was knocked off. Thick layers of mortar were found in the filling of the moat. It is very likely that this can be related to the work and demolition of the kitchen of the Hof van Arkel. The period of the filling of the moat corresponds with the fall of the Lords of Arkel and thus the disuse of the Hof van Arkel in the city. In 1417, Willem van Arkel died during an attempt to recapture Gorinchem from the Countess of Holland.

Jacoba van Beieren and Willem van Arkel in 1417, school poster by J. Isings (1906).

A few years earlier, the Lords of Arkel had already given their power and castle to the Wijdschild lost after the defeat of the Arkel Wars (1401-1412). The court area will have been the noble court of the counts of Holland for some time, to a lesser extent. Later it came into private hands and was divided into separate houses and on the north side the Great or Latin School.

School

The Great or Latin School was located just southeast of the plan area. However, no traces have been found that belonged to this school. There are also no indications in the finds that the school had expanded further to the north. On one piece of slate, found in a cesspit, a drawing was found on both sides. It is possible that this was used as a drawing board, but this cannot be directly related to the school.

After the filling in of the moat, houses are built on the north side of the plan area. The wall remains and foundations that were found consist of large bricks of late medieval size (monastery bricks).

Historical maps showing the excavation area

It is very likely that these stones were reused and came from the demolished buildings of the Hof van Arkel. These houses are drawn on the city map of Jacob van Deventer from 1558. A wooden beer barrel (track 48), which probably stood just outside a house, is dated 1511. Pottery that was found in the raised layers of the walls under a part of these walls has been dated to the period 1300-1500. Any earlier material in these layers will have been dug up in the soil brought from elsewhere. The end dating of 1500 indicates that the houses were built in the course of the 15th century. The southern part of the plan area appears to have been undeveloped and consisted of the back gardens of the houses. This image corresponds to the map by Joan Blaeu from 1649, on which the northern part of the plan area consists of houses and the southern part of the gardens behind it.

Tracks plane 4

© De Steekproef archaeological research and consultancy agency

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Two cesspits were found on the southern border of the plots. These two pits were probably part of two separate farms in the plan area. The cesspits were filled in and demolished at the beginning of the 18th century. Although the bone material from the cesspit suggests a fairly luxurious diet (including a lot of game), this did not emerge from the botanical research.

Tannery

It is known from archival sources that the plots of Knipsteeg 13-15 were in the possession of the De Vos family around 1584. In 1610, Jan de Vos Willemsz was a shoemaker. Around 1632, the archival documents mention a tannery. The tanning process took place in four steps. First, the raw materials, the hides of animals, were extracted. Often, the hides were delivered with the legs and/or skulls and horn cores.5Blonk-van den Bercken, AL, AAA Verhoeven, H. van Londen, J.W. Oudhof, G. Overmars & M.E. Lobbes (2020)
Craft production in cities. An inventory and analysis of the main features of archaeological evidence for craft production in cities in the late Middle Ages and the modern period, Dutch Archaeological Reports 066, Amersfoort, p. 145.
PDF (30 MB) The research found a large number of remains of horn cores and skulls of cattle. This assemblage is a clear indication of tanning. The animals were probably not slaughtered on site, because hardly any other remains of the cattle were found. The next step in the tanning process was preparing the hides. For this, the meat, hair, horn cores, hooves, tails and bone material were first removed. Then the hide was soaked in water. This was often done in running water, but this could also be done with water from wells in combination with tubs, pits and tubs.6Blonk-van den Bercken, AL, AAA Verhoeven, H. van Londen, J.W. Oudhof, G. Overmars & M.E. Lobbes (2020)
Craft production in cities. An inventory and analysis of the main features of archaeological evidence for craft production in cities in the late Middle Ages and the modern period, Dutch Archaeological Reports 066, Amersfoort, p. 147.
PDF (30 MB)

Tannery, woodcut 16th century, collection Germanisches National Museum, Nuremberg

The bone material found shows that this step of the tanning process was carried out on site. The third step consisted of the actual tanning of the hides in tannin. This was done by hanging the hides in large tubs or tubs filled with water and run. Run consisted of ground tree bark which naturally contains tannin. 7Blonk-van den Bercken, AL, AAA Verhoeven, H. van Londen, J.W. Oudhof, G. Overmars & M.E. Lobbes (2020)
Craft production in cities. An inventory and analysis of the main features of archaeological evidence for craft production in cities in the late Middle Ages and the modern period, Dutch Archaeological Reports 066, Amersfoort, p. 147
PDF (30 MB) During the archaeological investigation at least seven wooden tubs filled with run were found. After the botanical investigation 8Heul, J.S. van der and J.B. Veenstra (2021)
Gorinchem, Knipsteeg 13-15 Municipality of Gorinchem (ZH). Archaeological excavation, Sample report 2019-05/02, Zuidhorn, p. 84-98.
PDF (23 MB) it turned out to be mainly oak bark. Similar wooden tubs from a tannery have been found in Amsterdam, among other places, during a supervision at Fokke Simonszstraat 61-639Terhorst, T. and H. van Haaster (2019)
Tannery de Witte Bok Archaeological Guidance Fokke Simonszstraat 61-63, Amsterdam (2017), Amsterdam Archaeological Reports 109, Municipality of Amsterdam, Amsterdam.
PDF (8 MB) and in Groningen along the Walstraat.10Wieringa, A. R. & N. van Malssen (2013)
The archaeological supervision protocol for excavating sewer and redevelopment works in the eastern city centre of Groningen (Gr), ARC reports 2013-27, Groningen.
PDF (2MB)

One of the excavated tanning pits (track 69)

The final step of the tanning process was the post-processing of the leather. The leather was softened with fats and oils and thinned out. Depending on the intended purpose of the leather, the method and number of steps of post-processing varied. Indications for this step were not found in the plan area. However, the action of this step is also difficult to demonstrate archaeologically. The many remains of leather shoes that were found during the investigation and the archival report of a shoemaker indicate that the leather was probably processed into shoes on site.

A fragment of one of the planks from the 'front' of the formwork (track 70), with a corner post

The wood of the vats has been dendrochronologically dated in 1529 and 1561 and consisted of primary construction wood. The tannery probably came into being shortly after these dates, in order to provide leather to the shoemaker who lived in 1584. In 1705, the tannery on the Knipsteeg was sold to a certain Abraham Boudewijn. He partly expanded the tannery. A wooden barrel was found under a base plate that was dendrochronologically dated to 1706. This barrel was connected to the nearby well and probably provided the supply of clean water for the tanning process. In 1730, Abraham Boudewijn died and his heirs sold an inn and bowling alley (located on plots 1736-480) in 481. The tannery must therefore have been closed down before 1736. The tanning vats were filled in. The finds in the filling of the vats date between 1700 and 1750.

Bowling alley

Part of the northern wall of the bowling alley was found in the middle of the plan area.

Pipe smoking koll players on a koll alley ca. 1840 by Henry Brown

This wall corresponds to the elongated building on the cadastral minute plan from the beginning of the 19th century. For the construction of the bowling alley, the older tracks and structures were covered and the terrain was leveled. Only the cesspit will have been in use for a while.

Cesspool culvert

Fragments of tobacco pipes made by the Gorcum pipe makers Johannes de Hoog and Jan Ophuyzen, both of whom were active from 1744, were found in the filling of the cesspit.11Oostveen, J. van (2022)
Gorinchem, Knipsteeg 13-15: tobacco pipes, Tiel
PDF (5 MB) The cesspit will then probably have been visited by visitors to the bowling alley at the beginning of the 18th century. The bowling alley was active until 1809 and will have been demolished in the 19th century to make way for the (now demolished) buildings in the plan area.

Surprising results

The archaeological research at Knipsteeg 13-15 has yielded surprising results that make an important contribution to the historical developments in the plan area and the city of Gorinchem. First, a 14th-century moat that possibly surrounded the medieval Hof van Arkel. And then it turned out that a tannery had been active in the plan area from the last quarter of the 16th century. Mentions of this tannery appeared to be present in the archive. This allowed the archaeological data to be linked to the historical data in order to obtain a clear picture of the historical development in the plan area. The wall remains of an 18th/19th-century kolfbaan were also found at the location that corresponded with the historical cadastral maps.

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