06-28-2016, 06:35 AM
Finished a pair of Castleford boots a few days ago. IMHO they make for a nice and sturdy pair of military shoes in their simple design. The original find is dated to ca. 70-80 AD and is similar to some Vindolanda finds. Although not all of the upper survived there is enough left to reconstruct the shoe. Conveniently its sole survived as well, allowing to recreate the original mailing pattern.
I reinforced the lace loops for strength with a 2nd, inner layer of leather that is sewn to the upper. This isn't present with the original apparently, but known from other Roman shoes. Actually with the original the laces were partially torn out and repaired/replaced.
Castleford is the site of a Roman settlement called Lagentium or Legeolium that was home to a Roman fort. A number of shoe (see e.g. the Castleford caliga I did earlier: http://sutor.jimdo.com/1st-century-ad/caligae/) and other interesting finds from the late 1st century, both military and civilian, comes from the excavations of the site.
See https://www.facebook.com/leatherworkthroughtheages/ for more pictures of the boots and the making.
I reinforced the lace loops for strength with a 2nd, inner layer of leather that is sewn to the upper. This isn't present with the original apparently, but known from other Roman shoes. Actually with the original the laces were partially torn out and repaired/replaced.
Castleford is the site of a Roman settlement called Lagentium or Legeolium that was home to a Roman fort. A number of shoe (see e.g. the Castleford caliga I did earlier: http://sutor.jimdo.com/1st-century-ad/caligae/) and other interesting finds from the late 1st century, both military and civilian, comes from the excavations of the site.
See https://www.facebook.com/leatherworkthroughtheages/ for more pictures of the boots and the making.
Cheers,
Martin
---------------
Martin Moser
http://www.legio8augusta.de
Leatherwork Through the Ages Homepage
Leatherwork Through the Ages Facebook Page
Martin
---------------
Martin Moser
http://www.legio8augusta.de
Leatherwork Through the Ages Homepage
Leatherwork Through the Ages Facebook Page