Much of what is written about Victorian Hungate tells of poverty, drink, prostitution, squalor and ill-health. We get a picture of people in despair, trapped in one of the worst areas of the city where over-crowding and poor sanitation led to dismal lives and premature deaths.

There is certainly plenty of evidence, both from documents and from the current archaeological excavations, for wide-spread drinking and poor quality housing but this is not the whole story. Fragments of pretty teapots, teacups, flower pots and figurines show that some people aspired to a better quality of life. Not all the sherds of broken pottery are of poor quality; occasional pieces of Spode and Wedgwood have been recovered together with prized lustre wares and porcelain. Such possessions would have been carefully cherished and much regretted when broken.

A footnote in Rowntree's description of the slum conditions in Hungate in 1901 assures us that he '…is not unmindful of the thrifty and self-respecting households scattered through its midst.' Perhaps archaeology will help us to identify these households who struggled to keep standards up and enjoy the finer things of life.