Sugar refining at Plymouth: archaeological excavations at the Boatyard, Sutton Harbour

Abstract

SUMMARY An excavation on the eastern side of Sutton Harbour, Plymouth, uncovered the remains of a sugar house and related buildings. Documentary evidence confirms that the sugar house was built anew around the middle of the 17th century and remained active for at least a century, being out of use by 1754. The excavation has produced a large assemblage of ceramics used in the refining of sugar, but very little of it is of local manufacture. Once the sugar house ceased functioning, the ceramics were discarded on site and used to infill structures and build new surfaces. The assemblage includes ceramic forms not previously catalogued in sugar-refining before.