Beer Bottles Found Under Cellar Stairs in Northern England

News March 24, 2020

(Archaeological Services WYAS)
SHARE:
Leeds Beer Bottles
(Archaeological Services WYAS)

LEEDS, ENGLAND—The Drinks Business reports that while working at a construction site in central Leeds, researchers from Archaeological Services WYAS found more than 600 beer bottles stacked under a set of cellar stairs at the site of what had been the Scarborough Castle Inn. The bottles came from several brewers, but most are labeled “J.E. Richardson of Leeds,” according to archaeologist David Williams. The bottles are thought to date to the 1880s, he added. “This excavation is giving us a great opportunity to uncover a part of Georgian and Victorian Leeds,” Williams said. “The results so far are giving a real insight to the daily lives of the former residents of Leeds during this period.” Several of the beer bottles still contained liquid. Williams and his team members originally thought the liquid might have been ginger beer, but analysis showed that it contained alcohol and high levels of lead. Water used to make the beer is thought to have been contaminated by lead piping. To read about the discovery of an illicit whisky distillery in the forests of Scotland, go to “Still Standing.”

  • Letter from Ireland January/February 2020

    The Sorrows of Spike Island

    Millions were forced to flee during the Great Famine­—some of those left behind were condemned to Ireland’s most notorious prison

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Barra O’Donnabhain)
  • Artifacts January/February 2020

    Bronze and Iron Age Drinking Vessels

    Read Article
    (Alexander Frisch, Museen der Stadt Regensburg)
  • Digs & Discoveries January/February 2020

    The Man in Prague Castle

    Read Article
    (Prague Castle excavations, Institute of Archaeology, Prague)
  • Digs & Discoveries January/February 2020

    As Told by Herodotus

    Read Article
    (Christoph Gerigk © Franck Goddio/Hilti Foundation, franckgoddio.org)