The Lost World of Tudor Newport Street
Today Newport Street in Worcester has mostly modern buildings on it and only residents normally go down it. However in Tudor times it was a bustling street that ran down to the old bridge and home to many merchants. At this meeting we looked at documents and archaeology that helped to tell us about this lost world.
1730 map or Worcester. Newport St is no.35 on the map, the road running down to the bridge. No.36 is Beane's Entry, named after Mr Bean.
One resdent was Arnold Bean, a Clothier and pawnbroker. He died in 1579 and hill will lists all he owned, included furniture and objects in his house.
When Elizabeth I came to Worcester the Council ordered that everyone in Newport Stret and other streets she would see should remove all the dunghills, showing that Newport Street may have been a smelly place. This can be seen in the third paragraph. It is written in old handwriting so we have a transcription beneath.
Item, that every person having any dunghills or myskyns and tymber within the liberties, shall cause the same to be carryed away within ten days next, and so shall kepe cleane their soyles, and pave the same with all convenient spede, and that every inhabitant of the Foregate Street, the Hygh Street, the Broad Street, Newport Street, and so on to the bridge unto the end of the liberties, the Leech Lane, Sudbury Street, to the end of the liberties there, shall provide gravel for their soyles.
working out what would have gone into the different rooms in Mr Bean's house
Decyphering old handwriting