Evidence of county's first watering hole discovered.

Evidence of the first ever pub in Lincolnshire has been found at a village near Lincoln.


The discovery has been documented in a new book, called Exchange And Ritual At The Riverside.

The book has been published following an excavation of the Lower Witham Valley in 2004 and looks at life at Washingborough during the end of the Bronze Age.

Project manager and company director of Pre-Construct Archaeological Services Colin Palmer-Brown explained evidence of equipment used for brewing alcohol had been found at the site during archaeological excavation.

“Archaeology can only go so far and reconstructing things can be difficult,” he explained.

“However, we found remnants of a wooden tank, which may have been lined with skins and could have had something to do with the brewing of beer.

“There may have been some sort of feasting done when people met at the riverbank, which including drinking alcohol and feasting on meat stew.”

Mr Palmer-Brown also explained the spiritual and cultural importance of waterways such as the one in Lower Witham Valley during the time.

He said: “The association between ritual and watery places goes back a very long way into prehistory, from the Neolithic period and possibly earlier.

“If we look to the lower Witham Valley to the east of Lincoln, there is a plethora of archaeology that confirms the spiritual significance of this watery environment.

“Given the association between ritual and watery places, it is not at all surprising that, at certain times of the year, people from far and wide came together to share and exchange ideas and indeed just to exchange.”

Principle author of the book and Bronze Age pottery specialist Dr Carol Allen confirmed the possibility of the site being used as a place to brew alcohol.

She said: “Tanks, like the one found, could have been used for a number of reasons, such as brewing alcohol, cooking, or even to create a makeshift sauna.

“It seems quite reasonable that they would brew ale by the riverbanks. There were also little cups found across the site, and a lot of stuff that appears to have been broken deliberately.”