Firing, Felling and Forging
1. Potters
Archaeologists have found abundant evidence of the products of potters active in, and around Aberdeen from the 13th century onwards. Ceramic vessels ranging from jugs to piggy banks to industrial containers have been found both complete and in the form of many thousands of broken shards.
The term 'potter' may also have applied to makers of metal pots who were part of the hammermen trade. Both complete and fragmentary copper alloy vessels have also been found.
Potters rarely feature in the historical record and there is very little evidence of where they operated. They may have worked near to sources of clay, as assumed through excavations in the Clayhills area near the railway station and at Seaton. In terms of the environment, potters were usually located on the fringe of burghs as they were a fire risk and as they utilised, and risked the depletion of the natural resources of clay, wood and peat.
2. Smiths
All smiths were members of the hammermen trade. In 1581, Matthew Guild, armourer-sword slipper, was Deacon of Hammermen. Other smiths included Johne Bayt (1571), Walter Hay, goldsmith (1538), Laurence Bell, pewterer (1581) and Alexander Reid (1584).
Smiths were a fire risk and the smoke and smell from their forges would have also affected air quality. The later 15th century burgh records contain complaints about 'noise pollution' made by smiths working off the Gallowgate. Metalworking evidence found in that area includes moulds for casting items in bronze, while a 17th century smithy was found at the top of Castle Terrace, very close to the market area on Castlegate. Many of their products, from iron shears to nails, to bronze pins and brooches, have been found on excavations in Aberdeen. Apart from coins, no medieval silver objects have been discovered and no gold - perhaps a reflection of the greater care given to such items. It would however, be pleasing to imagine that the delightful and delicate 14th century gold brooch found near Kildrummy Castle might have been the work of an Aberdeen craftsman.
3. Wrights, Carpenters and Masons
In the medieval period the term 'wright' seems to have been applied to trades which we would now refer to as being in the construction industry. Those at work in Aberdeen included Thomas Benyng, wright (1450), William Matelande, carpenter (1455), Jonhne Rossale (1493), John Trouip (1531) and Alexander Bowak (1531) masons. Another group, wheelwrights, were not part of the trade until later, while masons did not form themselves into a separate lodge until the 17th century.
Until the 15th century most buildings in Aberdeen were made of wood and sometimes built on stone foundations. Church buildings were the exception. The excavation at the Carmelite friary in the Green demonstrated the use of high quality sandstone masonry in the late 13th century.
Medieval carpenters working in Aberdeen have left substantial quantities of evidence behind for archaeologists to find. Some of the many fragmentary wooden planks recovered may have originated as structural timbers in houses. Iron objects recovered include large quantities of nails of all shapes and sizes as well as a hinge pivot and a latch-lifter.
4. Foresters
The natural resource of wood was far more essential to medieval Aberdonians than it is to us today. Wood was the main material for house-building, for fencing and for construction of all kinds. Wood was also in use for a wide range of household equipment, for shipbuilding, wheelmaking, cart-making, coopering and much more.
Foresters were appointed to protect the forest to ensure that no one 'destroyed' wood, that is to say took any without proper authority, thus depleting the stocks. However they were not the most effective of officers. On 30 October 1410 Johannes Willelmi was convicted for destroying wood and the forester fined for neglect. The same happened on 18 November 1398. In 1448, Johannes Spens and Alexander Anderson, Keepers of the Stocket Forest, were also fined for neglecting their office.
Despite the relative fragility of wood, damp soil conditions have allowed the survival of a wide range of medieval timber, both structural remains and artefacts. They confirm that oak, birch, rowan, hazel, alder and ash were amongst the species under the care of the medieval foresters.
5. Coiners
Coin minting was a specialised type of metalworking that carried on in medieval Aberdeen at various periods between the mid-12th and late 15th centuries. The Aberdeen mint was particularly active around 1250, during the reign of King Alexander III, when four moneyers or coiners (Alexander, Andreas, Ion and Rainald) were striking silver pennies.
In the following century Aberdeen mint was busy once again and this time, in addition to pennies, groats (4 pennies) and half-groats (2 pennies) were produced for King David II. Thereafter, the mint functioned intermittently until the close of King James III's reign in 1488. The exact location of the Aberdeen mint is unknown.
As the Aberdeen mint, even at its busiest, would have been only a small craft workshop, its effect on the environment would have been limited. Nevertheless, in common with other types of metalworking, its activities would have been accompanied by fire-risk and smoke pollution. In addition, the acids used to reduce the level of impurities in the metal and in the annealing process by which the coin blanks were softened to facilitate striking, might have caused some local contamination. As far as the effect on the wider environment is concerned, a considerable quantity of timber, (supplemented possibly by peat because of its easy availability), would have been required as fuel for the mint furnace.
