Margate sea defence works- something else to look out for.

When I first took up digging the Thanet coastline seriously I started finding items at a phenomenal rate and it was nothing to find a hundred items in one session. In the course of a year I would literally have thousands of items all neatly boxed, stored and recorded. Then one day when I had the lot all laid out it occurred to me that the vast majority of my finds were mostly generic and mostly massed produced. Some items could be over 150 years old and others like a box of farthings for example are what they are a box farthings each having very little detailed history or provenance.This soon led me to study local history and examine everything I found in detail to try to establish some history to any item I found.After a while I was able place some history to some items which gave the item some provenance. In time a pattern of finds would emerge that pinpointed areas that produced more items that would have some associated history. These areas turned out to be the site of the Marine Palace destroyed on the 29^th November 1897, the Jarvis Jetty built 1824, and Margate Jetty and the Harbour area where the sea defence works are taking place today. I have mentioned bottles and their origins so the next item to be found in the sea defence works area has be coins. Even though coins are massed produced there is always some history behind some of them. They do not even have to be valuable as in the case of coins that have been personalized.

Many years ago working people did not own much and lived in chronic poverty due to ruthless exploitation. Owning very little, a gift to each other like a love token, talisman or souvenir etc., people would deface a low denomination coin with an inscription like a name or initials or just pierce the coin to act as medallion or charm. The coin I have scanned is a good example and very interesting, it is a copper Irish halfpenny dated 1822 made from Cornish copper and minted at Matthew Boulton’s Soho mint in Birmingham. Judging by the circulation wear it must have been pierced sometime in the 1840’s and looks like any other pierced coin. Closer examination shows the crown has been defaced and the date removed leaving only an Irish Harp. As the coin is struck in coin alignment and not in medal alignment the head of the monarch George IV hangs upside down. All done deliberately I suspect by someone who has a low regard for the British monarchy.

In the past I have come across many coins of a personalized nature, not all have been finds as some are a result of house clearances or auctions. However, I do view the Margate sea defence work an ideal opportunity to find some personalized coins with a Margate provenance.

Margate sea defence works - what to lookout for

Peoples habits never change and one habit in particular of drinking from a bottle and throwing it in Margate Harbour is something that I am sure that has gone on for two hundred years or more and will never change. There is also further evidence of this practice along the main sands by the abundance of the shards of green glass, worn smooth by the sea and sand accompanied by pieces of earthenware that can be found after every tide.

Between Margate harbour and the main sands there is this boundary where the shifting sands end and the silt of the harbour begins where everything that is found in the silted area has suffered less for the abrasive elements of the main sands. So there is every possibility that glass or earthenware bottles from the Victorian era will be found, complete or partially complete. The chances are the find will be something produced by the big three Margate mineral water companies of M J Harlow, Barret & Co or Reeve & Co or even a Cobbs brewery find. Then on the other hand the find could be something brought down from London on a paddle steamer of which there is plenty of evidence of that, judging by previous finds. However there is one prize or trophy I am hoping to find and that is something produced by a small independent trader or back street producer of mineral water, ginger beer and ale.

During the heyday of Victorian and Edwardian tourism and the high volume of visitor numbers there was every plenty of business opportunity to sell thirst quenching beverage on a hot summers day. Even with the iron grip of the big three mineral water companies on the market and the dominance of the Cobbs Margate brewery many small producers sprang up in Margate and Thanet in general with Ramsgate having the most. Even Chemists got in on the game and one chemist in particular, a Edwin Bing of Canterbury became so successful he gave up being a chemist producing mineral water in the back room of his shop and went onto to run a successful mineral water company. Not all of the small producers were as successful, even though they made money the pressure from the big three meant that many only lasted a few years which makes finding their bottles that more interesting. For example a George Kirby of 2 Church Street Margate was a baker and in 1897 produced his own mineral water to sell in his shop in earthenware bottles bearing his name , by 1900 he ceased production and concentrated purely on baking. Only fragments of George Kirby bottles are known to exist.

As we all well know, size does not mean anything and some of the earlier bottles produced by the Cobbs Margate brewery are really scarce which was more due to the strict accounting regime of the bottles by Cobbs than anything else , even a find of a broken remain of a early bottle would be a result.

At present due to the pace of the sea defence works it still is a case watching and waiting as things unfold. Since the end of the summer I have been picking my way through the harbour and main sands picking up anything of interest with a fanaticism only surpassed by the Taliban.

So what is the tally so far?

Taking into consideration earlier finds, the oldest glass find is about 1790's and I am gradually piecing together something that is representative of every decade from the 1790's which is one hell of a task. I also have a growing collection of bottle stoppers including a internal stopper from a 1880's bottle. So far it does not look impressive but once I have a mass of items it will look good.

The sea defence diaries 28/12/11

Work on the sea defence works has stopped for obvious reasons due the Christmas period and the mild weather has had very little impact on shape of the main sands where the demolition of the old boating pool by the clock tower has has taken place. All that remains of the boating pool is one wall that is built around the pipe that drains Tivoli Brookes.

I was fortunate that the tide had gone out far enough to allow me to have a good root around the end of the square head of the stone pier and take a few photographs. From the photograph the underpinning of the square head is well underway and is a continuation of the work that that took place after the storm of February 1953 when the sea ward side of the square head was underpinned to strengthen the foundation of the newly reconstructed lighthouse .

On this occasion my interest was centered of the spoil heap that remained from the digging and pile driving that can be clearly seen in the photograph. Even though the site looks a mess there are plenty of good finds to be made and data to collect.

The entrance to the harbour like any other harbour is where most of the main activity of harbour life took place and there was plenty of evidence to prove that. The spoil heap was a mixture of historical layers all mixed into one, as this area is well known for badly worn copper coins from the William III to the George IV period I was hoping to find some. On this occasion I did not find any, but I had a good mix of everything else ranging from clay pipe stems and bowls, shards and glass. As mentioned many times previously I found cannal coal from the thriving coal trade the harbour once had supplying the King Street gas works. On the modern side of life I found copper and brass boat fittings and pieces of stainless steel.

Like a magpie I pick up everything , store it in my back garden and then sort through it at my own leisure like in the photograph above.

Margate beach coins

To date I haven't found much as a result of the Margate sea defence works , but then it is early days and there will be plenty of opportunity this Christmas holiday to find something and this opportunity will continue well into 2012 and beyond. To give some idea what to expect I have scanned a few coins that I have found over the years around the Margate Harbour and Jetty area. As you can see the condition is not great and they are typical beach finds from old Margate when deep digging takes place. This is evident when clay from the old creek and deep black sand mixed with shingle and shards start appearing as a result of the digging. In fact the more smelly the sand is the better chance of an old find.

Somehow this dark black sand has an effect on coins. Copper and bronze coins do seem to do well and retain this distinctive colour that can be seen on three of the coins. Silver on the other hand suffers badly and most of silver coins I have found in the Margate Harbour basin around the Georgian period are so badly pitted and are wafer thin due to the reaction of the sand. Overall almost every beach coin will have no value except historically as each coin has been found in Margate and are a representation of old Margate.

The coin on the top left is a George III halfpenny found where the entrance to the Jetty was before the breakwater was built, the coin to the right of it was found near the square head of the stone pier where digging is taking place at present and is a William III halfpenny, the large coin is a 1797 cartwheel penny found many years ago where the north wall works will commence later in 2012 , the coin to the right of the cartwheel penny was found in the cut. The cut for those who do not know is where the original Jarvis Jetty of 1824 was built through a clearing in the rocks and then followed by Margate Jetty. Today a landing stage can still be seen at low water.

After the storm of January 1978 that completely destroyed the jetty. The cut was completely scoured out of sand and many coins from the George IV period where found just laying on the chalk including the one pictured.

Sea defence diaries 14/12/11 part 2

I took this photograph to give some idea of what lays underneath the layers of sand just inside the entrance of Margate harbour. As you can see it is a mixture clay and shingle from the bed of the old creek and it is probably many decades since there has been any digging to such a depth that has taken place in that part of the harbour. In fact, the enrance of the harbour does have a history of dredging and it is a well known fact that steamers and coasters would turn their props while at berth to loosen the silt to keep a channel clear. Therefore the layers of history will be mixed with old tiling, mixed shards, Victorian glass, clay pipe stems and modern brick appearing side by side. Even though I found two Victorian pennies it is still nothing to get excited about as Victorian coins were still circulating in the 1950's and 60's. So at present I think it will take time before anything in the way of artifact from the 1690's to 1808 when the previous pier was destroyed in a storm comes to light.

On the other hand now that the north wall of the boating pool is no longer with us, I expect once the rubble is cleared there will be enough current running through that will bring up some Victorian shards.

The sea defence diaries 14/12/11

It is over a week since my last posting and even through the gale force weather the work has been continuing at a cracking pace.

I suppose the first piece of nostalgia to go in the way of progress is the boating pool and the north wall of the pool has been demolished. The pool was constructed in 1910 and during its lifetime has gone through many repairs and modifications, like many local people who have fond memories as a child of the pool it is still sad to see it go.

Over by the harbour the shuttering was being pile driven and there was evidence of a lot of mechanical digging with clay from the old creek present on the surface. As work was in progress I kept my activities to around the inside of the square head of the stone pier where digging had taken place and the tide was coming in. There I found the ground beneath my feet had a strong smell and consisted of soft black sand, clay and shingle. It was impossible to metal detect, but then I knew that because I didn't bring my metal detector with me. So I relied entirely on picking up what I could on the surface.

Finds were very much as I expected with shards, clay pipe stems and old glass. I found two coins both Victorian and both pennies dated 1874 and 1892. Both having this very distinct pink colour as a result of laying in the black sand for many years. The shards and glass were very average but I did find a base of a Victorian gin bottle.

Shortly afterwards I went into the Margate Museum to have a look at the 1827 Christmas exhibition and to be honest it is perhaps the best display I have ever seen at the Museum. They even have a portrait of Turner one of four in existence in the country. The Margate Museum is going from strength to strength and judging by the quality of some of the loan items on display the Museum is now gaining influence with other museums and collectors. Something I put down to the influence of the Tuner Center, a strong volunteer base and TDC support.

My next thought being how can this be repeated in Ramsgate ?

The sea defence diaries. 05/12/11

Following all the publicity the construction of the Margate sea defence has finally started. So as from today I have started logging finds from the harbour area found as a result of the activity from the construction works, plus I am keeping keeping a photographic archive. As you can see from the photograph the steel piling has begun which is not having much of an effect in the revetment area in the way of digging at the moment. However, some digging activity is happening around the square head of the stone pier. This has resulted in lumps of clay from the old creek appearing in the small spoil heaps. They have also been driving piling around the entrance to the harbour. Today's finds were limited mainly due to the tide and the fact I didn't want to get run over by a mechanical digger. Today's find were a few shards with one piece unidentifiable to "The new palace steamers limited" and I found a old metal spoon.

This photograph gives some idea how far out from the North Wall the piling is taking place. As you can see from the photograph Ale-piling.com are undertaking the work.