Captain Cooks Birthplace Cottage : In-depth Information

In 1997, as part of National Archaeology Day, Tees Archaeology, working with the staff of Stewart Park and the Museums Service, carried out an excavation in an area close to the granite memorial. The result of this work, along with a geophysical survey of the area, suggests that the remains of East Marton village and perhaps even the foundations of the Birthplace Cottage survive below the turf.

In June 2003, Tees Archaeology took part in the “Time Team Big Dig 2003” in the hope of finding Captain Cook’s birthplace cottage. Tees Archaeology will be returning to the site in late October 2003, during the anniversary of Cook’s birth, to investigate further the remainder of East Marton village.

The birthplace cottage has been described as a mud house (1788) and  “a low cottage, of two rooms, one within the other the walls of mud and covered with thatch.” (1810). The single storey cottage had probably been built in the late seventeenth century and most likely had a two-room plan.

Houses of this type were entered either by a door in the front wall or the gable which led into the main living room or fore house. This room might have had a smoke hood over the fireplace made of lath and daub, which supported a stone chimney. The fire heated and lit the room and was also the main means of cooking meals. This room would have been open to the timber and thatch roof and often filled with smoke from the fire. Small-unglazed windows with shutters let in daylight

.Map Reference NZ 516 162.

Captain Cook's Birthplace Cottage

Gallery

In-depth Information

Like to know more?