The friars revetted the banks of the stream bordering their plot of land, first with wattle fences, later with stone walls founded on wooden piles. This was apparently to guard against occasional floods. These pictures give an impression of the time consuming and patient work involved in exposing the wooden remains, so that the timbers could be conserved and dated by the tree-ring method (Dendrochronology). Cleaning a wattle fence. Revealing the tanners' workshop. Tanner. Woodcut from the "Ständebuch" of Jost Ammann (1568) After the dissolution of the friary during the Reformation, tanners set up a workshop along the friary stretch of stream, which was by this time reduced to a trickle. They canalized the remaining water into wooden troughs which fed wooden tubs and wicker-lined pits, in which the chemical tanning processes were carried out. Huge amounts of cattle skulls, which were delivered with the hides for tanning (as can be seen in the old woodcut), were found next to these features. The tannery workshop had to be given up towards the end of the 17th century as the stream dried up completely. The remains of this and perhaps other suburban industries doubtless continued to the south of the stream, but could not be investigated properly due to lack of time. Thus important information regarding the social environment of the friary has been lost. Such is the fate of the urban rescue archaeologist!