Nieuwstad 7a t/md (2009)

During the excavation of the plot at house number 7 a-d on the Nieuwstad in Gorinchem, the remains of the buildings that had been here since the end of the 16th century were uncovered.^de century. The history of habitation begins after the 80s and 90s^de century the city was expanded by the construction of a new city fortification.

House Jacob Kemp copy after an anonymous drawing circa 1680

The poor state of the medieval city wall no longer provided adequate protection, and against the background of the political and military situation of the Eighty Years' War, the decision was taken to replace it with a defensive structure that met the requirements of the time.

Luxury townhouses

At the Nieuwstad, west of the old medieval centre, wealthy citizens could buy large plots of land. The Gorcum bailiff and fortification engineer Jacob Kemp bought a plot of land there and had it built according to his own design. The fact that he was in good company in this “new-build neighbourhood” is evident from the nearby, very luxurious mansion – later known as House Paffenrode – which Mr. Adriaen van Weresteyn had laid out in the middle of an extensive, lush garden.

Detailed map of Joan Blaeu's surroundings of Nieuwstad (1649)

Johan Kemp came into possession of the plot in 1613 through an inheritance and had a house built there around 1650, known as “Huize Kemp”. A detailed drawing of this house was made around 1660. This large-scale renovation has left several traces in the archaeological soil archive. Objects dating from the second quarter of the 17th century have been found under a cellar floor.^de century. There is also a wooden barrel that filled with slurry and rubble around this period and a large cesspit was put into use. A foundation plank dated around 1614 and a fragment of stained glass with the date 1618 leave open the possibility that changes were made earlier to the house designed by Jacob Kemp.

View of the garden of Martinus van Barnevelt (ca. 1760 – 1770), collection Gorcum Museum

cesspool

The Nieuwstad would retain its high status long after its creation. The filling of a cesspit found during archaeological research contained many objects that provide an image of the prosperity of the inhabitants. The cesspit may have been in use since the second quarter of the 17th century.^de century in use, until the last quarter of the 18^de century, after which the pit was built over. The majority of the objects date from the period 1675-1740, with the accurately datable tobacco pipes emphasizing the period 1720-1735. On March 10, 1735, the fifth owner of the plot on the Nieuwstad, Lieutenant Colonel Philip de Saint Amant, died. His wife Jubina de Clair had died a few years earlier and it is possible that some of their household effects were discarded in the cesspit after Philip's death.

Dinnerware

Among the 417 – mostly complete – earthenware objects are many dinner services, including both the cheap Lower Rhine plates and the somewhat more expensive faience plates, although the latter are only provided with polychrome painting in a few cases. Blue-white or completely white plates predominate. The objects that have a certain status due to their shape and use, such as a pleated dish or salt cellar, are also completely undecorated.

Ceramics from the cesspool

Tea set

In addition, tea sets made of porcelain, faience or industrial white earthenware occupy an important place among the finds. A total of 38 cups and 35 saucers were found. A teapot with lid and a cream jug made of industrial black earthenware may have been part of a funeral service. Owning a tea set – and in particular a funeral service – was a privilege, but in the 18^de century no longer reserved for the very richest. The rather incoherent collection of cups and saucers from the cesspool and the lack of special objects evoke the image of the possessions of the average bourgeoisie. The status image of the other earthenware objects corresponds to this observation.

chamber pots

The low number of chamber pots found can possibly be explained by the presence of an indoor secretion pit, which was directly connected to the cesspool by means of a gutter.

Cookware

A remarkably underrepresented functional group is that of objects used in food preparation, such as grapes and frying pans. On the one hand, this may be due to a selection made when depositing household goods, but on the other hand, it is possible that these objects were made of metal. Metal generally disappeared into the melting pot rather than into a waste pit or cesspit.

Metal finds

The metal finds in the cesspit are therefore small objects, such as buttons, pins and clothes hooks and rings. A number of small utensils were also found, including a thimble, an awl with a bone handle and a simple pewter spoon. Very special is the discovery of an almost complete pocket watch. The name of the maker is engraved on the back of the decorated movement, John Cotsworth in London, who was active there as a watchmaker from 1669. Cotsworth died in 1732, at the ripe old age of 95, which means that he must have made the mechanism at the latest a few decades earlier.

Glassware

The total number of 179 glass objects is certainly not small. The most common forms among the 107 drinking glasses are the goblet and the drinking cup. Wine was drunk from goblets, which was packed in onion-shaped glass bottles. Of these, 57 have been found. A few goblets with wheel-grind decoration can be considered to be of the more expensive type, but most glasses are not noticeably luxurious. Nevertheless, it can be stated that, based on the amount of glassware, the residents were certainly not poor. It is striking that this conclusion is clearer from the objects in this material category than from the pottery.

Offal waste

The animal remains in the cesspit show that there is a fairly usual composition of slaughter and consumption waste for an urban context from the modern era, with only the great diversity among the poultry being striking. Because no botanical research was carried out, the picture of the consumption pattern of the former residents of the Nieuwstad is unfortunately incomplete.

Wealthy

Looking at the material from the cesspit, it can be said that it gives the impression of coming from a household that was reasonably well-to-do. The large number of drinking glasses and wine bottles, the pocket watch, the possible presence of metal cooking utensils and an indoor toilet point to a well above-average status. The pottery, on the other hand, is indeed richer than that of the lower social classes, but no outspoken luxury objects or showpieces have been found. What may have played a role in this is the selection that preceded the deposition in the cesspit. This selection partly takes place unconsciously through the use of the objects, whereby the valuable possessions are treated with greater care and therefore break or are less likely to be replaced.

However, there will also have been a selection when the contents were confiscated, after the death of the childless Philip de Saint Amant. Given the hypothesis that the lion's share of the objects was deposited following the death of Philip de Saint Amant, this selection will have had a greater influence on the composition of the material in the cesspit.
The assumption that some of the valuable items in the household effects are underrepresented is fuelled by the description of the estate:

"the hall, the great drawing room, the purple room, the great dining room, the small dining room, the cellar, the cellar room, the accounting room, the upper room above the dining room, the room where the deceased gentleman slept, the pantry, the hall, the drawing room, the small accounting room, the maid's room, the gallery, the blue room, the coffer room, the cooking kitchen, the bottling room, the clothes shop, the attic, the back kitchen, the attic above the back kitchen” (Busch & Oldenburger-Ebbers 1990, 13 – 14).

Although no mention is made of the contents here, the image emerges of a large house where staff were also present. In addition, there is talk of a garden with, among other things, an orangery, "bellefidère", servant's room, gun room and coach house. The wealth of Philip de Saint Amant is also particularly evident from the jewels and securities, with a value of ƒ 7.200 and ƒ 31.367 respectively.

Overview of Nieuwstad excavation towards the southeast

In the period after this, the opening in the cesspool may be closed, or at least used less intensively. The amount of material that clearly shows 18^e-century dating is scarce. Given the presence of the older objects, the pit will be in the second and third quarters of the 18^e century were no longer thoroughly emptied. In the last quarter of the 18^e century the cesspit is filled with rubble and built over with a wall foundation of IJssel stones. Some other wall remains and a water well of this type of stone possibly date from around the same period.

Recession and decline

After the Golden Age had come to an end, the Gorcum economy also fell into disarray, reaching a low point around 1740. The recession mainly affected the lower and middle classes, the elite maintained itself through appointments within its own circle. The owners of the plot on the Nieuwstad generally belonged to this "privileged" group. For example, Martinus van Barneveldt (drost) was the owner between 1757 and 1775 and Hermanus Nicolaas Boellaard (alderman) between 1786 and 1802. At the end of the 18^e century this situation changed due to the growing popularity of the democratic ideas of the Patriotic movement.

Ultimately, these developments also led to decline in the Nieuwstad. In addition to the economic decline and the Patriotic-minded administrative circles since 1783, the struggle between the French and the Prussians ultimately led to the decline of the high status of the Nieuwstad. In 1813, the Prussian troops besieged the city occupied by the French. During this siege, a large number of the buildings in Gorinchem were damaged by the heavy bombardments that were carried out after 22 January 1814. The building opposite Huize Kemp, where Napoleon was able to spend the night in luxury on 5 and 6 October 1811, served as a hospital. After the battle, the building was so damaged that it had to be demolished. In the second half of the 18^e century, the once so impressive House Paffenrode demolished. The Willemskazerne would be built on this site in 1826.

Brewery

A few years later, in 1831, the gentlemen Van Renesse and Eyckmans started a brewery on the plot at the Nieuwstad. The buildings were renovated for this purpose, with both new foundations being laid and old foundations being used. Between 1832 and 1868, the brewery was expanded with a large shed on the rear site, which extended to the Schuttersgracht. In 1884, a brewing installation was installed with, among other things, a gas-powered water pump. A large water well against the back wall of the old buildings was then possibly closed. A late 19^e-/early 20s^e-century pudding mold in the cesspit fits this dating.