From the simplest of leather sandal to the highly elaborate heeled boot of the 18th century, shoes are an artefact archaeologists seem to enjoy finding. Somehow they bring the human element of the past back to the forefront. The earliest examples of shoes in the UK are from the Bronze Age when broad strips of leather were laced together; few have been found so styles and fashions are uncertain but they appear to be mostly functional. The sandal developed into the well-recognised Roman hobnailed caligae and eventually the closed shoe came into fashion. In the medieval period (and the Discworlds Unseen University) shoes were a sign of status with the pointier the toe the higher the status. Most people had leather shoes, they were functional and mass produced.

This example is from Grimsby and is early-mid Medieval it appears unused as there is no sign of wear on the base and all the stitching holes are complete. It is quite clearly a right shoe and about a size 5 ½ .

Medieval shoe from Grimsby