Pottery from Great Shelford (site GTS/07) Paul Blinkhorn Pottery Types THT: Thetford ware. So-called because archaeologists first found it in Thetford, but the first place to make it was Ipswich, around AD850. Potters first began to make it in Thetford sometime around AD925, and carried on until around AD1100. Many kilns are known from the town. It was made in Norwich from about AD1000, and soon after at many of the main towns in England at that time. The pots are usually grey, and the clay has lots of tiny grains of sand in it, making the surface feel a little like fine sandpaper. Most pots were simple jars, but very large storage pots over 1m high were also made, along with jugs, bowls and lamps. It is found all over East Anglia and eastern England as far north as Lincoln and as far south as London. STAM: Stamford Ware. Made at several different sites in Stamford in Lincolnshire between AD850 and 1150. The earliest pots were small, simple jars with white, buff or grey fabric, or large jars with painted red stripes. By AD1000, the potters were making vessels which were quite thin-walled and smooth, with a yellow or pale green glaze on the outside, the first glazed pots in England. These were usually jugs with handles and a spout, but other sorts of vessel, such as candle-sticks, bowls and waterbottles are also known. It appears to have been much sought after because it was of such good quality, and has been found all over Britain and Ireland. SN: St Neots Ware. Made at a number of as-yet unknown places in southern England between AD900-1100. The pots are usually a purplish-black, black or grey colour, but the clay from which they were made contains finely crushed fossil shell, giving them a white speckled appearance. Most pots were small jars or bowls. SHW: Medieval Shelly Ware. AD1100-1400. Made a several different places in Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire. The clay that the potters used has a lot of small pieces of fossil shell in it, giving the pots a speckled appearance. Sometimes, in acid soils, the shell dissolves, giving the sherds a texture like cork. Mainly cooking pots, although bowls and jugs were also made. EMW: Medieval Sandy Ware: AD1100-1400. Hard fabric with plentiful quartz sand mixed in with the clay. Manufactured at a wide range of generally unknown sites all over eastern England. Mostly cooking pots, but bowls and occasionally jugs also known. GRIM: Grimston Ware. Made at Grimston, near King’s Lynn. It was made from a sandy clay similar to that used for Thetford ware, and has a similar ‘sandpaper’ texture. The clay is usually a dark bluish-grey colour, sometimes with a lightcoloured buff or orange inner surface. It was made between about AD1080 and 1400. All sorts of different pots were made, but the most common finds are jugs, which usually have a slightly dull green glaze on the outer surface. Between AD1300 and 1400, the potters made very ornate jugs, with painted designs in a reddish brown clay, and sometimes attached models of knights in armour or grotesque faces to the outside of the pots. It is found all over East Anglia and eastern England. A lot of Grimston ware has been found in Norway, as there is very little clay in that country, and they had to import their pottery. Nearly half the medieval pottery found in Norway was made at Grimston, and was shipped there from King’s Lynn. ESR: Essex Redware: Late 12th – 14th century. Red-coloured pottery with lots of sand mixed in with the clay. Made at a number of different places in Essex, a few of which have been discovered. Most common pottery type was glazed jugs. GS: German Stonewares. First made around AD1450, and still made today. Made at lots of places along the river Rhine in Germany, such as Cologne, Siegburg and Frechen. Very hard grey clay fabric, with the outer surface of the pot often having a mottled brown glaze. The most common vessel type was the mug, used in taverns in Britain and all over the world. Surviving records from the port of London (‘port books’) show that millions such pots were brought in by boat from Germany from around AD1500 onwards. GRE: Glazed Red Earthenwares: Just about everywhere in Britain began to make and use this type of pottery from about AD1550 onwards, and it was still being made in the 19th century. The clay fabric is usually very smooth, and a brick red colour. Lots of different types of pots were made, particularly very large bowls, cooking pots and cauldrons. Almost all of them have shiny, good-quality orange or green glaze on the inner surface, and sometimes on the outside as well. From about AD1690, black glaze was also used. MET: Metropolitan Slipware. Similar to glazed red earthenware (GRE), but with painted designs in yellow liquid clay (‘slip’) under the glaze. Made at many places between 1600 and 1700, but the most famous and earliest factory was at Harlow in Essex. DW: Delft Ware. The first white glazed pottery to be made in Britain. Called Delft ware because of the fame of the potteries at Delft in Holland which first made it in Europe, although it was invented in the Middle East. More correctly known as TinGlazed Earthenware. Soft, cream coloured fabric with a thick white glaze, often with painted designs in blue, purple and yellow. First made in Britain in Norwich around AD1600, and continued in use until the 19th century. The 17th century pots were expensive table wares such as dishes or bowls, but by the 19th century, better types of pottery was being made, and it was considered very cheap and the main types of pot were such as chamber pots and ointment jars. MB: Midland Blackwares. Late 16th - 18th century. Basically a development of Red Earthenwares, with a black glaze which was coloured by the addition of iron filings. Mainly used for drinking pottery, such as multi-handled cups (tygs) and storage vessels SS: Staffordshire Slipware. Made between about AD1640 and 1750. This was the first pottery to be made in moulds in Britain since Roman times. The clay fabric is usually a pale buff colour, and the main product was flat dishes and plates, but cups were also made. These are usually decorated with thin brown stripes and a yellow glaze, or yellow stripes and a brown glaze. SWSG: White Salt-Glazed Stoneware. Delicate white pottery made between 1720 and 1780, usually for tea cups and mugs. Has a finely pimpled surface, like orange peel. VIC. A wide range of miscellaneous mass-produced 19th century wares, particularly the cups, plates and bowls with blue decoration which are still used today. First made around AD1800. RESULTS Test Pit 1 TP 1 1 1 SHW No Wt Context 1 2 4 1 3 EMW No Wt 5 13 VIC No Wt 27 124 16 41 19 33 Date Range 1800-1900 1800-1900 1100-1900 The pottery from this test-pit comprised entirely 19th century wares, indicating that there was little activity here before that time Test Pit 2 TP 2 2 2 2 2 Context 1 2 3 4 5 SHW No Wt 1 EMW No Wt GRE No Wt 6 MET No Wt 1 28 SS No Wt 1 1 4 1 3 1 VIC No Wt 9 88 3 15 16 41 3 20 6 34 Date Range 1600-1900 1100-1900 1800-1900 1800-1900 1100-1900 The bulk of the pottery from this test-pit was Victorian, although a few sherds of earlier material were also present. They were all mixed in with 19th century material however, suggesting that any medieval and post-medieval remains have been disturbed by later activity. The small size of the pre-Victorian assemblage indicates that it is likely that the site was a field during that time, and that the pottery is the product of manuring rather than occupation Test Pit 3 TP 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 Context 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 STAM No Wt 1 6 EMW No Wt 1 35 1 2 GS No Wt 1 1 GRE No Wt 1 1 1 4 3 2 41 14 MB No Wt 1 1 VIC No Wt 16 44 28 155 45 132 27 144 64 202 55 184 20 155 26 159 8 24 16 216 Date Range 1800-1900 1800-1900 1550-1900 1800-1900 1800-1900 1100-1900 1550-1900 900-1900 1800-1900 1800-1900 The bulk of the pottery from this test-pit was Victorian, although a few sherds of earlier material were also present. They were all mixed in with 19th century material however, suggesting that any medieval and post-medieval remains have been disturbed by later activity. The small size of the pre-Victorian assemblage indicates that it is likely that the site was a field at that time, and that the pottery is the product of manuring rather than occupation. The sherd of Stamford ware may indicate preconquest activity, but it is glazed, and could equally likely date to the later 11th or earlier 12th century. Test Pit 4 TP 4 4 4 4 4 Context 1 2 3 20/21 22 EMW No Wt GS No Wt GRE No Wt 3 1 15 1 6 MET No Wt 48 1 2 VIC No Wt 38 180 40 102 31 90 31 82 Date Range 1800-1900 1800-1900 1800-1900 1550-1900 1100-1700 The bulk of the pottery from this test-pit was Victorian, although a few sherds of earlier material were also present. They were all mixed in with 19th century material however, suggesting that any medieval and post-medieval remains have been disturbed by later activity. The small size of the pre-Victorian assemblage indicates that it is likely that the site was a field at that time, and that the pottery is the product of manuring rather than occupation Test Pit 5 TP 5 5 5 5 5 Context 2 3 4 5 6 THET No Wt 3 8 EMW No Wt 1 2 1 5 2 6 5 25 7 34 GRE No Wt 5 43 2 4 1 TGE No Wt 4 14 22 1 SS 4 No 1 Wt 8 1 6 VIC No Wt 14 33 12 71 3 8 10 14 1 2 Date Range 1100-1900 1100-1900 1100-1900 850-1900 1100-1900 This test-pit produced a large assemblage of medieval pottery, including sherds of Thetford ware which could be pre-Conquest, and suggests very strongly that there was settlement on the site during the later 11th – 14th centuries. There are no glazed wares or late medieval wares, so it is entirely possible that the site was abandoned for the last two centuries of the medieval period, before being reoccupied around the middle of the 16th century. The post-medieval assemblage suggest that there has been activity at the site ever since. Test Pit 6 TP 6 6 6 6 Ctxt 1 2 3 4 SN No Wt 1 2 EMW No Wt 6 30 4 29 4 7 17 68 GRIM No Wt 1 2 ESR No Wt 1 1 14 GS No Wt 1 3 1 4 GRE No Wt 1 1 3 17 2 5 MB No Wt 2 4 3 21 MET No Wt 1 3 1 40 106 SWSG No Wt 3 VIC No Wt 6 16 9 This test-pit produced by the widest range of pottery types, with their chronology indicating that there has been unbroken settlement there from around the time of the Norman Conquest to the present day. Test Pit 7 TP 7 7 7 7 Context 2 3 4 5 EMW No Wt 6 36 10 29 36 171 27 252 ESR No Wt 1 2 GS No Wt 2 GRE No Wt 3 11 8 1 13 SS No Wt 1 9 VIC No Wt 53 63 7 9 Date Range 1100-1900 1100-1900 1100-1550 1100-1400 This test-pit produced pottery which shows that there was intense activity here during the medieval period, presumably in the form of domestic occupation. The rate of pottery deposition fell off sharply after that time, but there still is enough to suggest that there was low-level activity here ever since then. Date Range 850-1900 1100-1700 1100-1400 900-1780 Test Pit 8 TP 8 8 8 8 8 Context 1 2 3 4 5 EMW No Wt 1 8 2 6 VIC No Wt 9 14 9 16 7 17 12 25 1 1 Date Range 1100-1900 1800-1900 1800-1900 1100-1900 1800-1900 This test-pit produced small quantities of medieval pottery, then nothing until the Victorian period. It appears very probable that it was abandoned sometime in the 13th or 14th century, and remained unused until quite recently, or was exploited in such a way that left no material remains.