Mylor Heritage Society

13 March 2011 Phil starts freeing up the hessianMHS members, Lesley Ewing, Jane and Peter Goldsmith and Phil and Janet Davill met at the Old Bootmaker's Shop at 1400 hours for the hessian ceiling removal zero hour.

This process was going to be an unknown entity, as none of us had removed such a thing before. Pre-inspection by Peter and Phil had discovered that the hessian ceiling was attached to the upper-side of the 4 main horizontal timbers (that topped each wall and supported the roof rafters). The attachment was with wooden battens, with some square leather 'washers' and nails at the corners - and all along part of the North wall. These battens could be accessed from the outside, as there is a narrow gap beneath the roof's galvanised iron. The gap being narrow meant that this job was not going to be easy - and it proved to be so.Phil and Peter were each sent up a step ladder and they prised the battens off - gradually. Phil had the more level sides and Peter scored the sloping North side. It was the least Janet could do by steadying Peter's ladder and make encouraging wise-cracks from time  to time. Meanwhile, Phil seemed to be constantly muttering something sotto voce ... Lesley and Jane wisely stayed well away and completed some vital MHS paperwork. The wooden battens were in surprisingly good condition, having been sheltered from the weather - and so were very hard to lift off. The little leather squares and nails were equally stubborn. John Joseph Staples had done a very good job of attaching his ceiling. It took some hours to carefully detach the outer edges of the ceiling fabric, leaving it hanging by two rows of interior battens. Anyone seen Phil?Phil was voted final batten remover because he had the luck to be the tallest in the team. The rest of the team supported the hessian or spread old bed-sheets below it to receive it. Despite being white-washed on the under-side, the hessian was very flexible and strong. It came down in one piece and was easy to roll up in the sheets. We all dusted off the old acorn cups, leaf litter and rat droppings that had cascaded onto us! The roll of hessian was carried out-side, spread out and swept a little. Rain threatened at this point and so it was swiftly re-Hessian removal nears completionwrapped and transported to a premises for storage in a weather-proof shed. (It will be stored there, until it can be cleaned further, repaired where needed and then put back into the old building after it has been made good.) The sun being low in the western sky, MHS team then repaired to their homes for a restorative beverage and a good lie down. The removal of the hessian will now allow the measuring for the intended supporting steel frame to go ahead. This has to be finely accurate. Thus another small phase in the process to preserve the old building has been completed - and the next about to begin. 9 March 2011 We asked Ms Ngari Boehm, principal of Mylor Primary School, if students might be interested in a visit to the Old Bootmaker's Shop site. The short answer was 'Yes!' and Ngari suggested that we offer a 'Master Class' as an optional elective for any interested students. Usually such classes attract 4 or 5 students. However, there is something about that word 'archaeology' and 21 students signed up for the class. To make sure that the students could have an unhurried and considered visit to the site, the Master Class 'singular' blossomed to a 1 hour class each week for the next 5 weeks! This would mean that about 4 students per class would guarantee a meaningful and safe visit for the children. Today, MHS members Janet Davill, Lesley Ewing, Peter Goldsmith and Sue Laundy greeted School Principal Ms Ngari Boehm and four Year 6/7 students. The master class began with our resident archaeologist, Janet, asking the students a few questions first - to establish what they might already know about archaeology, archaeologists and heritage issues. The students were very impressive with their level of knowledge and thoughts regarding all these questions. Eg. dinosaurs rated nary a mention! They knew very well that archaeology was basically the study of past human lives through the examination of the things they leave behind. They appreciated that preserving 'Heritage' - such as old buildings was worthy as it was 'good to be able see where and how people lived in the past'.

Artefact PuzzleBeing quite aware of the significance of artefacts in the archaeological process, they were then invited to try an 'Artefact Puzzle'. They were required to match a series of photographs of artefacts, found during the recent Old Bootmaker's Shop dig, to the various owners of the old building. The students conferred and quickly worked out which artefact might match the owners. (They certainly were quicker than all the original 'guinea pigs' who 'road tested' the puzzle prior to the class!)

Students then had a look at the now exposed chimney remnant on the outside of the eastern wall. They were shown an actual artefact, a very rusted axe-head, that had been found in the chimney area, and considered how it may have become lodged down the back of the hearth. They discussed the size of the fireplace and how John Staples would have had no trouble keeping warm and able to cook his meals, during those past, cold Mylor winters.

The students then donned hard hats and dust masks and entered the interior of the old shop. They compared Mrs Margaret Fidock's map of her childhood memories of seeing its interior, with the actual space. The students were very impressed with John Staples' ability to live and work in such a small space. They inspected the remaining features of the walls and wood round flooring, as well as the new evidence of the restoration process and discussed the meaningfulness of original and restored versus reconstructed and replaced - and how sometimes, to preserve anything original, one may have to introduce new materials to a building - but how careful and sensitive you have to be.

Mini-DigThe students were then invited to conduct their own 'mini-dig' in a clear plastic crate. They were already well acquainted with the concept of stratigraphy - where older items would be found below more recent ones in the various layers. They skillfully unearthed artefacts down through 5 layers - starting with the discovery of a superseded mobile phone in the top layer - down through a layer of ash containing a melted plastic clothes peg and a scorched 1982 2c - down to a 1954 commerative spoon and 1945 penny coin - to some typical 19th century ceramic fragments and boot hook - to some discarded flaked stones and a small hearth of ashes and pebbles in a circle. (If only all digs were so straight forward and mostly dateable!) Dating concepts, such as how the date of a coin is the earliest it could have entered the archaeological record - but not the latest time were talked about.

The students indicated that they had found the visit interesting and the MHS were very impressed with their collective level of knowledge and cooperation with their new teacher! It certainly was a two-way exchange! The students asked a lot of questions of the MHS regarding archaeology, heritage and the Old Boot-maker's site. Others present were very impressed with the comprehensive lesson that Janet had conceived, prepared, and delivered. 

Master Class and TeacherFor anyone wondering if they too could solve the Artefact Puzzle - it will be displayed at the Old Bootmaker's Shop, during the Mylor Heritage Societies' Open Day on Sunday 17 April 1.30pm - 4.30pm - during Heritage Week 2011. Come and see the site, find out more about it - and solve the puzzle!

24 February 2011 1.2 cubic metres of concrete was poured today in a fast and furious session. Phil manned the wheelbarrow and delivered about five loads into each of the waiting holes. A little time spent screeding off the excess finished the job. Pete and Phil

21 February 2011 Ironman Phil Davill, has completed excavating the five holes that will be filled with concrete. After the concrete, the hessian comes down and the steel goes up!

16 - 20 February 2011 This has been Phil's week - he took on the challenge single-handedly, excavating just over a cubic metre of dirt, for the concrete footings - all of it just using a small mattock, a trowell and some buckets. The remarkable part is that having dug down 600mm, he has exposed what looks like the wall foundations.

14 February 2011 This morning we met with Keith McAllister of Heritage Stone Restorations and discussed the overall progress, the next steps, and getting a start on rebuilding the walls.

12 February 2011 Today Janet painstakingly generated scaled drawings of the floor, and then used her camera to document the state of the internal walls. Time ran out to complete the task so, after a 10-day break up in the mid-north, "the boss" will be back to complete the task.

11 February 2011 Excavation of the interior of the bootmaker's shop is now complete. All wall collapse material has been sieved, sorted and anthing interesting has been preserved. An area of about one square metre of the floor just to the left of the fireplace, shows a portion of the timber floor that has stood the test of time. The rest of the floor timber had rotted.

10 February 2011 The excavation style investigations inside the Old Bootmaker's Shop are almost finished - contingent on a review by Mr Keith McAllister, of Heritage Stone Restorations, early next week. The wood-round flooring was found to extend right from the doorway, and would have covered the entire floor at one stage. Seeing as how it was probably a readily available flooring material, possible easy to come by and economical, there is a very good chance that it was John Staples' original flooring. More pieces of rusty wire, fashioned into loops and hooks, were unearthed today. These were found near the surface of the floor area. The floor area is in a very worn and disturbed state, given the amount of foot traffic the little building would have had in it over 100 plus years. Therefore, we cannot really say if John Staples made do with the ubiquitous fencing wire for all manner of uses - or if subsequent owners, such as Mr Stevenson the Mylor Baker c.1920s, may have been responsible for fashioning such objects. The Davills did most of the digging today and the Goldsmiths did tag team sieving. The team did take time-out for morning tea and to observe two Bronzewings canoodling rather publicly and eventually consummating their relationship in the beautiful setting of Sherry Park. Isn't Nature wonderful! Tomorrow should see a beginning of some very systematic and detailed scale photography of the exposed features of the floor and of the interior wall surfaces, to further document the building prior to the planned renovation and restoration.

9 February 2011 The mysterious rusted metal object, embedded in the floor in front of the fireplace on the S side, proved to be about 30cm long and looks like a portion of metal leaf spring. As to why it had been inserted firmly in the floor surface is a question that joins all the others. The 'whys' are usually the hardest part of any archaeological investigation. As there was no corresponding metal piece in a similar position on the N side, the likelihood of it being a possible part of a hearth fender is considered to be slim. More broken amber and green bottle glass has been found over at the foot of the E wall, S of the fireplace. These pieces are lying partly under a fallen brick, which probably originated from the collapsed fireplace/chimney front. It appears that a few bottles had been placed against the wall, at some stage in the past,and were smashed when the chimney collapsed. Peter Goldsmith gave the centre and south portions of the floor surface a light trowelling to reveal more remains of wood-round flooring and also found a metal shirt stud and his favourite type of find, a rusty nail. The wood-rounds in this area would have been in an area of the most foot traffic, being in front of the doorway. This seems to be reflected in the appearance of the remnants of wood looking like old, worn down teeth! Tomorrow will hopefully see the conclusion of our archaeological style investigation of the floor levels of the Old Bootmaker's Shop via excavation. Detailed scale photography of the interior surfaces of the walls and wall remnants - and their various structural and functional features - is also planned for tomorrow's and Friday's work sessions.

7 February 2011 B.Arch.Assistant sweeping the floor with a paintbrush!Today, Peter Goldsmith did an extensive, shallow excavation across the western half of the floor surface and found the remains of many wooden rounds well distributed over the floor space. It can be assumed, therefore, that this was the flooring throughout - but was it put there by John Staples? Or was it placed there by a subsequent owner? Peter also revealed that the wooden upright, that forms part of the door frame on the N side, had been stabilised by two very sturdy steel pegs driven deep into the ground, rather than rocks or brick fragments used as a stabilising agent. Yet some more light has been shed on John Staples' building methods, and his solutions to various structural requirements, from way back in c1904/1905! Jane Goldsmith and Lesley Ewing, not only sieved for the better part of the day, but also had a go at the job of excavation. The jury is out regarding their preference. Janet Davill had no joy in resolving the mystery regarding a large piece of rusted metal well set in the floor deposits in front of the fireplace. The other end has not yet been dug down to, despite the careful removal of many buckets of old compact ash and then sandy soil around it. Perhaps further digging on Wednesday 09/02/2011 will decide the matter? 5 February 2011 Excavation continued today as per yesterday, with each excavator sticking to 'their patch'. All the eastern and northern wall collapse material has now been removed, salvaged, sorted and stockpiled for rebuilding. Jane Goldsmith and Lesley Ewing worked hard at this task as usual! Peter Goldsmith, continuing his dig in the NW sector, is now on record as stating that if he digs one more rusty nail out of the dirt, it will be too soon! The riddle of if the wood round flooring is original or a later addition has still not been solved. Phil Davill complicated matters by finding a remnant of what looks like man-made fibre (? rayon) hosiery-like fabric beneath the wooden round level in the NW corner. Some research into when man-made fibres came on the scene may shed light on the mystery. Any answers to this query are most welcome! Janet Davill managed to only find a gigantic spread of old fine ashes on the floor level in front of the fireplace today. The find of the day was at the foot of the northern wall, and is a thin metal stencil of the alphabetical letters: 'MFFO'. Margaret Fidock has stated that the first fire-fighting body in Mylor was named the 'Mylor Fire Fighting Organisation' - that then became the 'Mylor E.F.S.' and then our wonderful 'Mylor C.F.S'. It is assumed that this stencil harks back to the earliest fire-fighting organisation in Mylor and has not been viwed in the light of day for a considerable time. Margaret says that the Old Bootmaker's Shop was indeed used to store the fire fighting equipment back then. Further excavation and tidying, in preparation for the next phase of restoration/reconstruction, will continue this coming Monday and on through the week. Local Councillor Mr Ron Nelson visited the site today, and expressed great pleasure at seeing what we have achieved so far.

4 February 2011 The three excavators, Phil Davill, Peter Goldsmith and Janet Davill kept the lone sieve executive, Lesley Ewing, occupied today. Phil D. dug further in the  SE corner to reveal that John Staples must have dug a hole for his supporting corner upright of un-dressed timber, put it in, and then stabilised it by filling the hole with rocks and clay soil. Phil D. then dug in the NE corner and removed considerable amounts of wall collapse from the N wall, all for 'Lucky' Lesley to sieve and sort. Janet D. continued the removal of collapse material from in front of the fireplace and found yet more possible flooring wood-rounds set in what looks like builders sand. Most wood rounds will not be salvagable as they were very soft and rotted in the very eastern portion. This is not surprising, as moisture from any rain has been blowing in there since the wall collapsed. Long time Mylor resident, Mrs. Margaret N-E corner Original timber floor - R foregroundFidock, visited the site today and looked at the revealed wooden rounds set in the dirt floor. Margaret can remember seeing the interior, when a child, with the furniture attributed to John Staples still in place. She said she cannot recall noticing such a floor of sawn tree trunk wooden rounds, but that, maybe as a child, you tend not to notice some things? Peter G. excavated in the NW corner and revealed the footing of the NW corner wooden upright and that it had been stabilised in it's hole with broken chunks of red brick. These excavations have revealed, in part, how John Staples went about building his little shop and residence. The corners were going to have to be dug for the installation of the supporting steel framework as part of the restoration/reconstruction process anyway. Learning about John Staples' building methods, via careful excavation in the archaeology style, is a bonus.

3 February 2011 First view inside The dig team made a goodly deal of progress today. We must be getting better practiced at this excavation business! The loose, very disturbed surface deposit of the western two thirds of the floor space was removed. The finds were mostly broken pieces of louvre window glass (possibly from the demolition of Mrs Sherry's house) and yet more fragments of amber/brown bottle glass! Our attentions then turned to the south eastern corner of the room. The wall collapse material between the corner and the southern edge of the fireplace surround was removed by Peter Goldsmith and Janet Davill. Phil Davill was induced to be the 'bucket executive' and he kept Jane Goldsmith and Lesley Ewing well supplied at the sieve. Meanwhile, Sue Laundy kept the whole team well supplied with history anecdotes, refreshments and energy snacks. Finds included a large cache of very rusty nails, some galvanised iron sheeting and dressed timber. Some large sawn 'rounds' of tree trunk, of about 10cm thickness, were revealed to be set into the ground. Were these part of an original floor covering? Or were they just stored in there at some later time? It is little queries like this that can have archaeologists discussing the probabilities at length over cups of afternoon tea! Tomorrow will see the continuation of the salvage of eastern wall collapse material.

2 February 2011 The Chimney base Our excavations outside of the eastern side of the old shop have now been completed. Keith McAllister, of Heritage Stone Restorations (HSR), has inspected the now revealed chimney and fireplace remnants, and says they will find them very useful as a guide to the reconstruction of the chimney. It is planned that the original hearth stones of the fireplace will be able to remain in place, with the new chimney built around them.
The Mylor Heritage Society dig team has been supplied with hard-hats by HSR and so we were able to safely enter the Old Bootmaker's Shop today and carefully remove the surface objects from the floor space. These will be stored off-site until the restoration/reconstruction is completed. This was the very first time some of us had been privileged to be inside the little building.
Tomorrow will see the first excavations of the eastern wall collapse material. Once again, as much of the material as possible will be salvaged and sorted for use in the reconstruction of the walls.

27th January 2011 The site was visited again today by Mr Greg Carver, Archaeological Consultant and local resident. He was very pleased to note our progress and how we had gone about the excavation process so far. It was good to meet with the approval of an expert! The day was spent tidying up around the remnant of the chimney, in preparation for a scale drawing of its dimensions. Further outer mound material was also sieved, sorted and salvaged with the ubiquitous amber glass shards being ever present in the deposit! One find of note today was a section of slender galvanised drain pipe, of about 1 metre in length.

26th January 2011 The Dig Team L to R, Janet, Jane, Pete, Lesley and CooperWhat better thing to do on Australia Day than to work at some Australian Historical archaeology? After the well organised, and very well attended Australia Day celebrations on the beautiful Mylor Oval, the dig team set about excavating the chimney collapse mound yet again. Many people came over to ask about the project, to express their pleasure that something was being done towards preserving the little building - and to give the team much encouragement. This was greatly appreciated. Progress was made today. Peter Goldsmith expertly excavated the NW exterior corner of the mound and revealed the remains of the chimney attached to the eastern wall at that point. Phil Davill successfully excavated the interior of this corner, revealing that the chimney fireplace was lined with a red painted mortar plaster. These are exciting and very useful finds, as now the dimensions of the chimney reconstruction can be better calculated and constructed to be as closer to original. There are no photographs of the chimney to be found, at this time, and so the challenge was always going to be reconstructing something that was literally unknown. We have a much better idea now. Meanwhile, Jane Goldsmith and Lesley Ewing were indefatigable in dealing with bucket after bucket of excavation material at the sieve and informing the visitors about the project and its aims as they worked the rubble. Tomorrow? The work goes on! The dig team are: (from left to right) Janet - Boss Archaeologist, Jane - Sieve Executive, Pete (B.Arch.Assistant), Lesley - Bucket Executive.
24th January 2011 Digging resumed today, after the busy Tour Down Under week, when Mylor Heritage Society members were devoting their time to fundraising for the project instead of digging. Today's excavations revealed yet more rusted barbed wire and rusty tin. Quite a few shards of amber coloured bottle glass turned up in the deposit too, indicative perhaps of some refreshments having been imbibed in the vicinity in the recent past! About 1/3 of the chimney collapse has now been excavated, sorted and salvaged for the planned reconstruction of the chimney, using the original material. Digging is planned to occur next on Australia Day, commencing after the breakfast and Award Presentations, and then during the remainder of this week.

15th January 2011 The dig team settled into a solid day's work in the warmth of the bright sunshine today, and sifted and sorted a considerable amount of collapse material for future wall and chimney reconstruction. Lesley Ewing, Jane Goldsmith and Sue Laundy worked very hard on the sieve work while Peter Goldsmith and Janet Davill wielded their trowels. We have not discovered any intact remnants of the old chimney yet - still hoping to. We consider that we just might have reached in to the original collapse of jumbled of brick and stone though. The most spectacular find today was a very hacked about golf ball, found near the surface if the mound. Someone must have been practicing a powerful drive from the oval, a while ago, and inadvertently inserted the ball into the archaeological deposit!

14th January 2011
The weather cooperated today and excavation recommenced of the collapse material from the chimney and a portion of the eastern wall . We are carefully excavating from the periphery of the collapse mound, in towards what may prove to be the remnants of the chimney base. Time will tell! Archaeologist at work
A good amount of material on the eastern edge was excavated, sieved, and reusable building material salvaged and sorted. Artefact finds were mainly strands of very rusty barbed wire! Dr. Keryn Walshe, S.A. Museum, visited the site today, and commended the Mylor Heritage Society and the Mylor community in general for engaging in this project. Dr Walshe said that the archaeology of the early 1900s in South Australia has been little documented and researched, and so she will be very interested in the process and outcomes of our project. She gave us quite a few tips regarding future investigations of the site and encouragement that we are going about things archaeological in a competent way. Reassuring praise indeed! We were joined today by Jane Fergusson, who, together with Jane Goldsmith have been dubbed "Queens of the Sieve". Local kids Maggie Anderson, her brother Moss and another friend visited us, and Maggie helped with the sieving. Jane plus assistant sorters

13th January 2011 - Rain halts play

12th January 2011 At last the Mylor Heritage Society has been able to make a start at the Mylor Bootmaker's site! Our very own archaeologist Janet Davill, ably assisted by Lesley Ewing, Jane and Peter Goldsmith have taken the first steps by commencing the removal of material that once comprised the eastern wall and fireplace. As excavation proceeds, we hope to establish the extent of the fireplace hearth. The excavated material has been examined for any "finds", graded and saved for the reconstruction of the wall. Janet confers with Greg Carver Mr Greg Carver, Archaeological Consultant, visited the site today, and suggested we enlist the help of Dr Keryn Walshe from the SA Museum. Dr Walshe accepted our invitation, and will be visiting the site on Friday with a view to providing some assistance in our work.