From a blacksmiths to selling oysters: the life and times of Cleethorpes and the mysterious bottle

Sea View Street, known as Town Street in the district of Itterby, many sailors would have been coming and going, preparing for their voyages at sea.

At this time, a common occurrence was to bury a bottle of urine as a superstition for a safe journey home. However, they seldom survive, let alone over 200 years!

Earlier this year, heritage works were carried out at 35-37 Sea View Street as part of the National Lottery Heritage funded Townscape Heritage (TH) project for Cleethorpes. During development, excavations were being carried out at the rear of the building in preparation for building foundations of a new extension. Workers had to manually excavate an area, as it was too tight for a small digger to work in.

It was during these works that a rather unique find was made – a sealed bottle full of liquid. Since then, it’s been on quite the journey.

Analysis of the bottle

With the consent of the owner, the bottle has been studied by an Undergraduate student at the University of Lincoln as part of the Conservation of Cultural Heritage course. Zara Yeates, 32, is in her third and final year of the BA course and fell in love with history and conservation during a visit to the Mary Rose when she was nine.

Over the past three months, she has been using UV lights and X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) to determine what’s in the glass and what the glass itself is made of.

After countless tests and many other methods, Zara hopes she is now closer to the truth.

“This bottle has been a great project and I’ve absolutely loved it. I’ve spent months cleaning it to brighten up the levels of iridescence which has led to the discovery of an opalescence.

“To the naked eye, it probably looks like dirt, but it’s just another layer of this wonderful object.”

She added: “After countless tests using UV light and X-rays, we believe we may have discovered what’s in the bottle.

“We can now say, almost definitively, that it is urine.”

With the ultimate question answered, Zara is hoping to learn more about the glass itself. “Now I’ll be looking at finding out the minerals in the glass to hopefully figure out where and when the bottle was made.”

A history of Cleethorpes

Over the past 200 years, a lot has changed in Cleethorpes. In the 1801 census, it had a population of 284 from 60 houses and in the 19th century, Cleethorpes transformed from a collection of hamlets into a large fashionable town.

In the 1841 census, it shows the town was originally spelt Cleathorpe, with the aforementioned districts of Itterby, Oole and Thrunscoe.

Sea View Street resided in the parish of Itterby and Cleethorpes was known for businesses selling oysters and a blacksmiths. During this time, well known establishments such as The Fisherman’s Arms didn’t even exist and the only surviving shop is that of Hermes Antiques which opened in the early 1800s.

Whilst it may never be clear why or how the bottle came to rest there, work carried out by Zara at the University of Lincoln has been able to gain a small glimpse into Cleethorpes life over 200 years ago.

Speaking about the updates on the bottle, Carol Heidschuster said: “It’s been great to follow the journey of the bottle.

“Although it may not contain rum or a precious liquid, seeing it brought back to life by Zara is great and we’re so happy that we managed to find it during one of the Townscape Heritage Projects

“Hopefully we can now find out more about the glass itself to determine where and when it was made.”