The Saxon and Medieval Pottery of London: A Review

NOTES

• Many of the vessels illustrated in B. Rackham, English Medieval Pottery (2nd ed., London, 1972) have a London provenance.
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• J. G. Hurst, ‘Anglo-Saxon and Medieval’, 60–67, in The Archeology of the London area: Current knowledge and problems (London Middlesex Archaeol. Soc. Special Paper 1, 1976), 61–62, 65–66.
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• Tony Dyson comments ‘The “dock” was not so much a dock as a public lane (or Watergate) leading from Thames Street to the river between private properties on either side. Furthermore, at the time when the “dock” was filled it was not part of Baynards Castle, but was separated from it by three tenements in private hands'.
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• A. Dyson and J. Schofield, ‘Excavations in the City of London Second Interim Report, 1974–1978’, Trans. London Middlesex Archaeol. Soc., 32 (1981), 65–70.
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• A. G. Vince, ‘The Aldwych: mid Saxon London Discovered’, Current Archaeol., VIII, no. 10 (August 1984), 310–12.
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• G. Milne and C. Milne, ‘Excavations on the Thames Waterfront at Trig Lane, London, 1974–76’, Medieval Archaeol., XXII (1978), 98.
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• For example at Cutlers Gardens, excavated in 1978 by S. O'Connor Thompson, Site code: CUT78. Large waterfront deposits of 16th- and 17th-century date have recently been destroyed by redevelopment at Wapping.
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• The monumental structure at St Peters Hill has been dated by J. Hillam to c. 294 using dendrochronology on timbers which retained their bark.
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• C. Orton, in G. Milne and C. Milne, Medieval Waterfront Development at Trig Lane, London (London Middlesex Archaeol. Soc. Special Paper 5, 1982), 92–93.
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• P. Stott, ‘Coins, Jettons and Tokens from the London Waterfront’ (forthcoming).
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• M. M. Archibald, ‘English Coins as Dating Evidence’, 234–71 in J. Casey and R. Reece, Coins and the Archaeologist (Oxford, Brit. Archaeol. Rep. Brit. Ser. 4, 1974), 247–48.
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• S. E. Rigold reports on finds of jettons in the following: P. Rahtz, Excavations at King John's Hunting Lodge, Writtle, Essex (Soc. Medieval Archaeol. Mono. Ser. 3, 1969), 79–81; J. G. Hurst, ‘The kitchen area of Northolt manor, Middlesex’, Medieval Archaeol., V (1961), 288; G. Beresford, ‘The medieval manor of Penhallam, Jacobstow, Cornwall’, Medieval Archaeol., XVIII (1974), 142–43; P.J. Huggins, ‘The excavation of an 11th-century Viking Hall and 14th-century rooms at Waltham Abbey, Essex’, Medieval Archaeol., XX (1976), 125–27; D. S. Neal, ‘Excavations at the Palace of Kings Langley, Hertfordshire’, Medieval Archaeol., XXI (1977), 145–47; G. H. Smith, ‘The excavation of the Hospital of St Mary of Ospringe’, Archaeol. Cantiana, XLV (1981), 106; G. L. Good and C.J. Tabraham, ‘Excavations at Threave Castle, Galloway’, Medieval Archaeol., XXV (1981), 106; Milne and Milne, op. cit. in note 9, 99–102.
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• S. E. Rigold in Milne and Milne, op. cit. in note 9, 103–06.
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• B. Spencer, ‘The ampullae from Cuckoo Lane’, 242–49 in C. Piatt and R. Coleman-Smith, Excavations in medieval Southampton 1953–69: Vol. 2. The Finds (Leicester, 1975).
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• E.g. see Van Eyck's ‘Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his wife’, c. 1434.
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• A fuller description of the methods used can be found in C. R. Orton, Pottery Archive: user's manual (Museum of London, Department of Urban Archaeology, 1978).
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• A. G. Vince, ‘The Topography of Mid Saxon London’ (forthcoming).
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• Dyson and Schofield, op. cit. in note 4, 57 Well Court. Site code: WEL79.
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• S. Roskams and J. Schofield, ‘Milk Street, Part 2’, London Archaeol., 3 (1978), 227–34.
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• G. Milne, ‘Saxon Botolph Lane’, London Archaeol., 3 (1980), 423–24.
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• A possibility suggested through topographic analysis by V. Harding and D. Keene, Cheapside and the development of London before the Great Fire (forthcoming).
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• Archaeomagnetic dates supplied by Dr A. Clarke, Ancient Monuments Laboratory.
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• Milne, op. cit. in note 20, 423–30, figs. 2, 4, 6, 7 and 9.
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• Found at the Buttermarket, Ipswich. Ipswich City Museum acc. no. 1936. 222.
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• A. G. Vince, ‘New light on Saxon Pottery of London’, London Archaeol., 4.16 (1984), 431–39.
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• G. C. Dunning, ‘Pottery of the late Anglo-Saxon period in England’, 31–78 in G. C. Dunning, J. G. Hurst, J. N. L. Myres and F. Tischler (eds.), ‘Anglo-Saxon Pottery: A Symposium’, Medieval Archaeol., III (1959), 53.
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• Also known as Chester-type ware, from the late 10th-century hoard pot found in 1950 in Chester: A. G. Vince, ‘The pottery’, in R. Shoesmith (ed.), Hereford City Excavations 1: The Finds (London, Counc. Brit. Archaeol. Res. Rep. 56, 1985, 62–63). I am grateful to J. Rutter and C. Cane for informing me of recent finds of this ware in the NW. Midlands, shown on Fig. 6.
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• A. G. Vince, ‘The medieval ceramic industry of the Severn Valley’, Ph.D. Thesis (University of Southampton, 1983). I, 130.
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• Pers. comm. Dr I. Freestone, British Museum Research Laboratory.
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• B. K. Davison, ‘Castle Neroche: an abandoned Norman fortress in South Somerset’, Proc. Somerset Archaeol. Soc., 116(1972), 42–56.
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• Dunning, op. cit. in note 26, 56–60, fig. 31.
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• Ibid., 55–56, fig. 28.
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• Ibid., 67, fig. 37, 1.
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• Ibid., 62, fig. 33.
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• K. Kilmurry, The pottery industry of Stamford, Lincolnshire, c. AD 850–1250: its manufacture, trade, and relationship with continental wares, with a classification and chronology (Oxford, Brit. Archaeol. Rep. Brit. Ser. 84, 1980), 8–9 (Fabric descriptions), 11–12 (glaze classification) and 131 (dating of fabrics). Most of the Stamford ware from London is of fabrics B or G with glazes 1 or 2. A few examples of fabric A with glazes 4 to 6 are found, for example fig. g. 1–2, but unfortunately very few are in useful stratified contexts.
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• M. Biddle and K. Barclay, ‘Winchester ware’, in V. I. Evison, H. Hodges, and J. G. Hurst (eds.), Medieval Pottery from Excavations: Studies presented to Gerald Clough Dunning (London, 1974), 137–65.
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• Pudding Lane. Excavated by G. Milne. Site Code: PDN81 Context: 294. Similar vessels have been found in 11th-century contexts at New Fresh Wharf (a yellow-glazed lid) and Watling Court, Site code: WAT78. Two unglazed N. French whiteware sherds were also found at New Fresh Wharf, one with traces of vertical red-painted lines c. 10 mm wide and the others with a band of diamond rouletting on the shoulder.
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• Lime Street. Excavated by T. Williams. Site code: IME 83. Context: 155.
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• V. Horsman, ‘Saxon buildings Near Billingsgate’, Popular Archaeol., 5.4 (Oct. 1983), 28–32. Buildings AC to AF.
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• P. V. R. Marsden, ‘Archaeological finds in the City of London 1963–4’, Trans. London Middlesex Archaeol. Soc., 21.3 (1967), 219–20 and figs. 16–17.
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• M. Mellor, ‘Late Saxon pottery in Oxfordshire: evidence and speculation!’, Medieval Ceram., 4 (1980), 17–28.
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• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, s.a. 1009.
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• At the Treasury site, Westminster, a large 12th-century assemblage was recovered from a ditch traversing the site. Report by R. Huggins, Trans. London Middlesex Archaeol. Soc. (forthcoming); The late 11th- to 12th-century pottery from Lambeth comes from an excavation at the Palace by R. Densem, for the Dept of Greater London Archaeology, Museum of London, and appeared to be part of an extensive make-up deposit.
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• A. J. Robertson, The Laws of the Kings of England from Edmund to Henry I (Cambridge, 1925), IV Ethelred 2.
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• A. Hooson, ‘A dated type series of medieval pottery from London: South Hertfordshire greywares’, Trans. London Middlesex Archaeol. Soc. (in preparation).
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• J. E. Pearce, A. G. Vince and A. Jenner, A dated type series of London medieval pottery, Part 2: London-type ware (London Middlesex Archaeol. Soc. Special Paper 5, 1984).
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• A. Jenner, J. E. Pearce and A. G. Vince, ‘A dated type series of London medieval pottery. Part 4: Kingston-type ware’, London Middlesex Archaeol. Soc. Special Paper, forthcoming.
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• Swan Lane. Site code: SWA81. Context: 2053.
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• For example, the N. French monochrome vessels found at Norwich include some with hollow handles and jugs with ‘loops’ of applied clay, but neither trait is common amongst the London finds: H. Clarke and A. Carter, Excavations in King's Lynn 1963–1970 (Soc. Medieval Archaeol. Mono. Ser. 7 (1977)), 225, fig. 101, 18–20.
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• A. G. Vince, ‘Medieval and post-medieval Spanish pottery from the City of London’, in I. Freestone, C. Johns and T. Potter, Current research in ceramics: Thin-section studies. The British Museum Seminar 1980 (London, British Museum Occ. Paper 32, 1982), fig. 15.3, 22.
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• J. E. Pearce, ‘Getting a handle on medieval pottery’, London Archaeol., 5, no. 1 (Winter 1984), 17–23.
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• J. E. Pearce, A. G. Vince and R. White, ‘A Dated Type Series of London Medieval Pottery. Part 1: Mill Green ware’, Trans. London Middlesex Archaeol. Soc., 33 (1982), 266–98.
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• G. C. Dunning, ‘Inventory of medieval polychrome Jugs found in England and Scotland’, 126–30 in C. Fox and C. A. Ralegh Radford, ‘Kidwelly Castle; including a survey of the polychrome pottery found there and elsewhere in Britain’, Archaeologia, LXXXIII (1933), 126–30, figs. 12–14 and 16.
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• K.J. Barton, ‘The medieval pottery of Paris’, Medieval Archaeol., X (1966), 59–73.
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• M. Biddle, ‘Imports of medieval stoneware from the Rhineland’, Medieval Archaeol., VI—VII (1962–63), 298–300. Two of the vessels published by Biddle, stated to have been found in Oxford, were in fact purchased in London but incorrectly registered when acquired by the Ashmolean (pers. comm. D. A. Hinton).
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• Pers. comm. D. Whitehouse.
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• M. Hinton, ‘Medieval Pottery from a kiln site at Kingston upon Thames’, London Archaeol., 3.14 (Spring 1980), 377–83; G. Dennis and P. Hinton, ‘Medieval kiln group from Bankside, SEI’, London Archaeol., 4.11 (Summer 1983), 283–87.
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• C. R. Orton, ‘The Excavation of a Late Medieval/Transitional pottery kiln at Cheam, Surrey’, Surrey Archaeol. Coll., LXXIII (1982), 49–92.
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• A. Jenner and A. G. Vince, ‘A dated type series of London medieval pottery. Part 3: A Late Medieval Hertfordshire Glazed ware’, Trans. London Middlesex Archaeol. Soc., 34 (1983), 151–70.
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• H. Janssen, ‘Later medieval pottery production in the Netherlands’, 121–86 in P. Davey and R. Hodges (eds.), Ceramics and Trade: The production and distribution of Later medieval pottery in north-west Europe (University of Sheffield, 1983), figs. 9.9–18.
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• Unpublished petrological analyses by R. Rattray and A. G. Vince. Musum of London thin-sections MTS 262–67 (Low Countries Greyware) and MTS 268–73 (Dutch Red Earthenware).
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• Assemblages from St Albans indicate that Hertfordshire greywares were no longer made by the late 14th century while the vessels from the Surrey greyware kilns at Limpsfield, which may well continue in production into this period, are apparently easily distinguished from these London finds (pers. comm. M. Russell, University of Southampton).
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• B. Beckmann, ‘The main types of the first four production periods of Siegburg pottery’, in V.I. Evison, H. Hodges, and J. G. Hurst (eds.), Medieval Pottery from Excavations: Studies presented to Gerald Clough Dunning (London, 1974), 183–220.
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• J. G. Hurst, ‘Langerwehe stoneware of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries’, 219–38 in M. R. Apted, R. Gilyard-Beer and A. D. Saunders, Ancient Monuments and their interpretation: Essays presented to A.J. Taylor (London, 1977).
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• There are indications that potters making ‘Malaga work’ were already active in Manises by 1342 and by 1362 Manises potters were called upon to produce lustreware tiles for the palace at Avignon: A. W. Frothingham, Lustrewares of Spain (New York, 1951), 79–83.
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• J. G. Hurst, ‘Spanish pottery imported into medieval Britain’, Medieval Archaeol., XXI (1977), 68–105; A. G. Vince, op. cit. in note 50; J. G. Hurst, ‘Late medieval Iberian pottery imported into the Low Countries’, Rotterdam Papers, IV (1982), 101.
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• J. G. Hurst, ‘Near Eastern and Mediterranean medieval pottery found in North-West Europe’, Archaeologia Lundensia, 3 (1968), 195–204.
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• Pers. comm. I. Tyers.
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• A. G. Vince, ‘The medieval and post-medieval ceramic industry of the Malvern region; the study of a ware and its distribution’, 257–305 in D. P. S. Peacock (ed.), Pottery and Early Commerce (London, 1977), 266.
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• J. C. Thorn, ‘Medieval pots from Friday Street’, London Archaeol., 2.2 (1973), 62–63. This interpretation is favoured by R. Rattray, whose analysis of their capacity shows that they cluster around divisions of the wine gallon of Henry III: R. Rattray in J. E. Pearce et al., op. cit. in note 46.
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• Orton, op. cit. in note 58.
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• M. Hinton, op. cit. in note 57, 381.
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• A fragment of an animal, Museum of London Acc. No. 5686, is probably part of a lobed cup.
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• K. Armitage, J. Pearce and A. G. Vince, ‘Early medieval roof tiles from London’, Antiq. J., LXI (1982), 359–62.
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• Pers. comm. H. Borrill.
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• Pers. comm. Duncan Brown, confirmed by examination of the vessels published by C. Piatt and R. Coleman-Smith, op. cit. in note 14.
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• A. G. Vince, ‘New Light on Saxon pottery in the London area’, London Archaeol., 4.16 (Autumn 1984), 431–39, fig. 5.1, 2 and 5.
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• S. M. Youngs, J. Clark and T. B. Barry, ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1982’, Medieval Archaeol., XXVII (1983), 204.
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• The earliest recorded importation of Spanish lustreware was in 1289 at Portsmouth. A more specific reference to Malaga as the source of this pottery occurs in the port book for Sandwich in 1303: G.C. Dunning, ‘A group of English and imported medieval pottery from Lesnes Abbey, Kent; and the trade in early Hispano-Moresque pottery to England’, Antiq. J., XLI (1961), 1–12.
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• This is indicated both by design, which is in blue without lustre, and by the results of Neutron Activation Analysis carried out by M. Hughes, British Museum Research Lab.
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• L. E. Webster and J. Cherry, ‘Medieval Britain in 1972’, Medieval Archaeol., XVII (1973), 162–63, fig. 60.
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• Supervised by John Burke-Easton. See S. M. Youngs and J. Clark, ‘Medieval Britain in 1981’, Medieval Archaeol., XXVI (1982), 192, pl. VII, A.
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• J. Burke-Easton, ‘BYD81 Level III report’, Period 3.6.
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• Baynards Castle is recorded as being heavily damaged by a fire on 30 October 1428. Gregory's Chronicle, in The Historical collections of a citizen of London in the 15th century, ed. J. Gardiner (Camden Soc., 1876), 163. Documentary research by Tony Dyson and Colin Taylor has shown that by 1430 the Castle had been rebuilt with corner towers, since rent was paid to St Pauls for the encroachment needed to build one tower from that date.
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• G. Milne and C. Milne, op. cit. in note 9.
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• Published by Gerald Dunning, op. cit. in note 26, 73–77.
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• Supervised by G. Egan, see Youngs and Clark, op. cit. in note 81, 193; Youngs et al., op. cit. in note 77, 194–95.
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• J. A. Schofield, ‘Seal House’, Current Archaeol., 49 (1975), 53–57.
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• R. Morgan and J. Schofield, ‘Tree rings and the archaeology of the Thames waterfront in the City of London’, 223–38 in J. Fletcher (ed.), Dendrochronology in Europe (Oxford, Brit. Archaeol. Rep. Int. Ser. 51, 1978), 231–33.
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• Ibid., fig. 5. Dated c. 1170 by seven timbers.
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• Ibid., fig. 5. Dated c. 1210 by five timbers. A loose timber felled in 1203 was associated with the use of the revetment.
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• Ibid., fig. 5. Dated c. 1220 by three timbers.
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• New Fresh Wharf was excavated in three stages, Site Codes: NFW 74, SM 75, FRE 78, but is treated as a single site for archival purposes. The late Saxon sequence is summarized by L. Miller, ‘New Fresh Wharf 2: The Saxon and early medieval waterfronts’, London Archaeol., 3 (1977), 47–53. The results of the 1978 watching brief and the dendrochronological analysis are briefly described in Dyson and Schofield, op. cit. in note 4, 48–52, 61 and figs. 7 and 12.
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• R. Morgan and J. Hillam, ‘New Fresh Wharf: Tree-ring analysis’, unpublished level III report, Museum of London. Dept of Urban Archaeology.
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• Ibid.
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• Billingsgate Lorry Park, site code: BIG82, supervised by S. Roskams: see Youngs et al., op. cit. in note 77, 191–92.
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• Directed by T. Tatton-Brown in 1973 for the Guildhall Museum: see T. Tatton-Brown, ‘Excavations at the Custom House’, Trans. London Middlesex Archaeol. Soc., 25 (1974), 117–219; T. Tatton-Brown, ‘Excavations at the Custom House Site, City of London, 1973—Part 2’, Trans. London Middlesex Archaeol. Soc., 26 (1975), 103–70.
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• J. Fletcher, ‘The dendrochronology’, in Tatton-Brown, op. cit. in note 96, 211–15.
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• Youngs et al., op. cit. in note 77, 194. Site directed by P. Rowsome, Site code: LUD82.
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• Information from A. Dyson.
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