The pottery of the pagan to mid- Saxon period is extremely rare in the region and when found exhibits very few typological features which might be used to indicate date or function. The vessels are grouped together here with cooking pots simply for convenience. No doubt the vessels fulfilled a range of functions. i) The earliest cooking pots in the region are Anglo-Saxon bag- shaped vessels with rolled-out rims. These vessels were handformed but the method of handforming unknown (although the smaller vessels were probably formed by 'pinching' up from one lump). This form is known in several fabrics in the region most of which are either chaff-tempered, or sandstone sand and chaff tempered.
It is the most common Anglo-Saxon form known and is essentially the same form as that used for decorated and funerary wares. Thus, the term 'cooking pot' should not really be used as a generic term for the form (although some were undoubtedly used for cooking). The term 'jar' is used instead. A fifth to eighth century sequence at Old Town, Swindon, shows a progression from short, globular pots to taller, curved ones. Only two features, apart from the stubby rolled-out rims, are known; foot-rings (known from Wycomb, Gloucester) and vertical lug handles. In neither case is the size or shape of the complete vessel known.
A distinctive form of "fineware" jar of Anglo-Saxon date is the facetted and carinated jar. An example of this form from Fairford, Gloucestershire, is illustrated by Myres (Myres, 1969, Fig.37 no.49). This form is dated to the late 4th to 5th century by continental parallels and has not been recognised in sherd collections of chaff-tempered ware in the study region. However, the carinated form is found in the post-Roman period in the West, for example an unstratified vessel from Stanton Prior (Bennett, 1974) and a calcite-tempered vessel from Cheddar Palace (Rahtz, 1974, Fig. 4 No.35 - published angle wrong). These examples are not facetted however and the carinated bowl form is found both in the late Roman period (for example on Oxfordshire parchment ware bowls) as well as in the pre-Roman Iron Age.
This same basic jar form is found at Saxon Southampton (Hamwih) in the 8th and 9th centuries (Hodges, 1981, 6-14, Fig. 2,6) in several fabrics.
ii) Cylindrical, flat based cooking pots are known from Cornwall (Thomas, 1968) and Maxey (Addyman, 1964) but are not known from the study region. They were presumably made by coiling and occur in granite and shell tempered fabrics. Coil-built flat-based vessels are also found in chaff-tempered ware at Clapham (Densem & Sealey, 1982) and examples may be present at Hamwih (Hodges, 1981,6-14, Fig.2,1,5 and Fig.2,4,6).
Although to some extent pottery forms are independant of the method of production, since one can use different techniques to produce the same end result, there is such a distinct difference in cooking pot form that the two groups are best dealt with separately.
With one exception all of the cooking pots made in the region have sagging bases. The exception is the Scratch-marked vessels produced in South East Wiltshire. The method of production of this type is unknown but the thickness of the neck suggests that the rim was added as a coil, irrespective of the way in which the rest of the body was made.
There are four main body forms for handmade cooking pots; a) Globular, with an obtuse base angle. This is typical of Cheddar E, Bath Fabric A and Gloucester TF41b. b) Curving, with a base angle approaching a right angle. This form, in which there is a definite constriction at the neck but which is basically cylindrical is the most common type and is found, for example, on Malvern Chase vessels. c) Cylindrical, in which there is no constriction at the neck. This is an unusual form but it is found, for example, on Monmouth area cooking pots. d) Slightly conical, This form is widest at the base and straight-sided. The form is first found in N. Cots. I ware, possibly in the 10th century and certainly by the early 11th century. In the later 11th to early 12th century it is found on some Oxford AC vessels, some Gloucester TF41b vessels, some Worcester-type cooking pots and, very rarely, on Malvern Chase cooking pots. In almost all cases the vessels have club rims. The exception is the Malvern Chase cooking pots, which have a squared cordon just below the rim.
Rim forms are largely independant of body form and can be divided into simple forms of the same thickness as the body itself and more complex forms which are formed by infolding, outfolding or squashing. There is no evidence for the use of templates in rim production and all of the forms found can be reproduced with the fingers.
There are three distinctive types of rim in this group; short everted rims, tall everted rims and vertical rims. Short everted rims are distinctive of Gloucester TF41b and in fact probably merge into the club-rimmed form (the only difference is one of angle; both types have the same length of rim). The majority of simple rims are in the order of 25-35mm tall. They can occur at any period from the 10th to the 17th century and in any part of the region. They are, however, particularly common in the late 11th to early 12th centuries, for example on Bath A, Gloucester TF41b and Newbury A vessels. Thumbing on the rim is a common decorative technique.
Tall everted rims are rare but occur on some Gloucester TF41b spouted pitchers in the late 11th to early 12th centuries.
A rare type, found only in the Bristol area in the 11th to early 12th centuries, is cylindrical with a slight groove and bead on the inside of the rim. This type is found on Bristol A/B and Bristol C vessels and on Hillesley-type cooking pots.
A more common form is everted, at an angle of about 45 degrees, and has a flattened top. This is often accompanied by a thickening on the outside. Such rims are found on 12th century Worcester-type cooking pots and on Hereford A3 cooking pots in the early 13th century. Within this basic type there are variations in the precise shape. Another common form has a cylindrical or slightly everted neck with a bead on the exterior. This is most likely formed by squashing rather than outfolding. The form is common on 11th to 12th century Bristol wares and on proto-Ham Green and Ham Green cooking pots. Thumbing is commonly found on this form.
Rolled-out rims, with no actual break of profile between the rim and the body, occur rarely in the region, they are found on Chepstow HA and Cirencester 201 vessels, both in the 12th century. In both cases the vessels are well-finished, probably on a turntable, but without the use of a wheel. ii) Infolded rims. The most distinctive rim-type in the Severn Valley has a 'hook' profile formed by rolling an everted rim inwards. The earliest occurrence of the form is in the 12th century in the Forest of Dean. In the 13th century the form is found on Malvern Chase, Hereford A2 and Hereford A3 vessels as well as on some ungrouped vessels in the Welsh Marches. The same form is found on wheelthrown Malvern Chase and Hereford A7 cooking pots.
The earliest wheelthrown cooking pots found in the region are of late Saxon date. Both Chester-type ware and some Gloucester TF41a vessels are wheelthrown. Apart from the Chester Hoard pot, there are no complete profiles known but in both wares it is clear that the vessels had pronounced shoulders and sagging bases, dished-out after throwing. Cylindrical necks are found on some examples of both wares but they differ in rim form. Chester- type ware rims are typically flat-topped and expanded whereas Gloucester TF41a rims are short but everted. Both wares also produced lid-seated rims. The Chester-type ware cooking pots are decorated on the shoulder with a single band of roller-stamping, whilst the Gloucester TF41a vessels are always undecorated.
There are several parallels to this basic shape, mainly in the East Midlands and East Anglia, but both the Chester-type and Gloucester types have more pronounced necks than any of these wares (cf. Hurst, 1977). Similar vessels have recently been identified at Exeter, produced in the Bedford Garage kiln.
The incidence of roller-stamping amongst these late Saxon wheelthrown wares is intermittent. It is present on Chester-type ware, some Thetford-type ware (including that produced at Ipswich, Norwich, Thetford itself - mainly in the 10th century, and Stamford). There is a suggestion that roller-stamping on late Saxon cooking pots is predominantly a tenth century feature and at both Ipswich and Thetford roller-stamping is an early feature. Later wheelthrown cooking pots from these industries having no decoration. There is little evidence however that Chester-type ware is earlier in origin that Gloucester TF41a and it is clear that in the main the two types were concurrent.
Sagging bases have also been considered to be a dating feature on the basis of the suggested sequence at Ipswich. (Hurst, 1977, 314-338). However, there is conflicting evidence from Thetford and from Langhale, both of which have flat bases showing wire removal marks in the 11th century. Stamford too produced some flat based vessels, but these belong the the very beginning of the sequence there, in the late 9th century. Thus, the fact that both Chester-type ware and Gloucester TF41a have sagging bases is probably not a useful dating factor.
Two wares whose method of production is dubious are Oxford B and Cheddar E. Both have squat but curving profiles with simple everted rims. Both have relatively thick walls but usually abundant parallel marks on the rim and body. On balance it is most likely that these types were not thrown on the wheel but were produced by hand and finished on a turntable.
The latest late Saxon wheelthrown cooking pot type is Cheddar B, not found in the region. This type has a similar form to Cheddar E but is often decorated with horizontal grooves on the shoulder. A single vessel of similar appearance was found in Gloucester but in a locally made fabric, Gloucester TF43 (Vince, forthcoming).
These wheelthrown late Saxon wares have no connection with those of the post-conquest medieval period. At least a century of hand-made production separates the two. These medieval wheelthrown cooking pots are usually partially glazed internally. The earliest definitely wheelthrown type is found in Worcester- type ware in the early 13th century. These vessels are small and globular with a short flat topped rim and no neck.
This globular, neckless form is common amongst wheelthrown cooking pots and is found for example in N. Cots. 2, Minety ware and Coarse Border ware. It is the typical wheelthrown cooking pot form in the London area (for example in Shelly-sandy ware and South Herts/Limpsfield wares) from the late 12th century onwards. There are differences in rim-form between these types, those of N. Cots. 2 and Minety wares having everted and sharply undercut rims whilst those of Coarse Border ware have wide, flat-topped or, later, lid-seated ('bifid') rims. The London area cooking pots have either wide, flat-topped or squared rims.
The other major form of wheelthrown cooking pot is roughly cylindrical, with or without a constricted neck. In several wares this form appears late in an industry which was earlier producing similar vessels by hand, for example Malvern Chase, Hereford A2 and Hereford A3.
Similar vessels are known in Hereford A5, Hereford A7 and Gloucester TF110 wares, none of which are known to have handmade antecedents of this form. In the case of Hereford A7b the similarity with Malvern Chase cooking pots is so strong as to show that the type was being copied in Herefordshire.
The wheelthrown cooking pot disappeared during the fifteenth century and was replaced by the pipkin, the conical bowl, and the skillet.
Pipkins are defined as cooking pots which have horizontal handles, that is, they were intended to be lifted by the handle rather than suspended over a fire or hung up for storage. Because of this they tend to be small to medium sized vessels in comparison to cooking pots and ceramic cauldrons.
The form is first found in the early 13th century, for example wheelthrown vessels made at Carrickfergus (Simpson et al., 1979) and in London-type ware (Pearce et al., forthcoming). There is a little evidence for the use of this form in Worcester- type ware in the early to mid-13th century and similarly there are rare horizontal handles in late 13th to 14th century Malvern Chase ware.
Metal cooking vessels made in cast bronze sometimes have horizontal handles and are known from documents and surviving examples from the 14th century (London Museum, 205, Pl.LV). when found in metal the form is usually referred to as a 'skillet'. In general the form is absent in the region until the late 15th century, when tripod pipkins are found in Malvern Chase ware. Tripod pipkins are found amongst the products of the Post- medieval Welsh Borderland kilns.
The term 'skillet' is applied by archaeologists to three quite separate forms. The first is an enclosed metal vessel with a horizontal handle. The ceramic version of this form would be termed a 'tripod pipkin' (Lewis, 1978). The second form is a shallow metal dish with a horizontal handle and three short feet, as shown by a vessel from Stanford-in-the-Vale (Goodall, 1981). No precise parallels occur in pottery but vessels without the feet do occur in a number of fabrics in the study region, principally in the south-east. The form is known in Newbury group C fabric with nicked decoration on the rim, which suggests that they were contemporary with the Newbury group C tripod pitchers in the late 12th century. This form also occurs in Coarse Border ware and Newbury group B. Dutch Red Earthenware vessels with this form are common from the late 14th century onwards but probably occur from the late 13th century onwards. This form is sometimes termed a 'skillet', 'frying pan' or 'socketed/handled dish'.
The last type bowl form with three feet, a horizontal handle and a pulled spout. The form is found in cast bronze in the 17th century, when vessels with inscribed handles are common. The ceramic vessels are often sooted on the exterior and were probably used in the same way as present-day saucepans.
Only two wares in the region definitely produced skillets; Malvern Chase and Ashton Keynes. However, a number of post- medieval wares produced footed vessels which might either be pipkins or skillets (the distinction adopted here between the two forms is that the skillet is an open form whilst the pipkin is a hollow form). The Malvern Chase vessels are of late 15th to early 17th century date whilst the Ashton Keynes vessels are of early 17th to 18th century date.
Pottery lids for cooking vessels can be of many forms; simple discs with a knob handle, the 'Chinamans Hat' form (the most common), a disc with a countersunk handle, and the overhanging form (meant to be used with an external flange). Although made in England from the 10th century onwards, Lids are rare in the study region until the late 15th century, from which time they form a small but regular part of the repetoire of several industries.
Lids are known amongst the products of the wheelthrown late Saxon pottery industries of eastern England and the East Midlands (Hurst, 1957, Fig.6 No.14 illustrates a Chinamans Hat form in Thetford ware) but are not known in the region, despite the presence of lid-seating on some Chester-type and Gloucester TF41a wheelthrown cooking pots. One possible medieval lid is known from the region. This is from Gloucester and is a stamped fragment of Bristol C fabric.
In the late 15th century lids are found in Malvern Chase ware and Minety ware and at an earlier date are first found in Coarse Border ware. In the late 16th to 17th century lids are found amongst the products of the Herefordshire kilns. It is likely that these lids were meant to be used on cisterns and jars. However, there are considerably more jars, pipkins and cisterns than there are lids in any of these wares and it is likely that most lids were made of wood.
Overhanging lids are known in Border ware, probably for use on pipkins.
Dripping dishes, also known as dripping pans, fish dishes or meat dishes, are oval or rectangular trays with a single handle and usually a pouring lip. They are shallow and usually heavily sooted from their use, which was either to sit under a spit-roast to catch the dripping or to cook fish.
The earliest examples known in the region are of early to mid 13th century date in Worcester-type ware and Cirencester fabric 201. There are no large fragments and thus no indication of their shape. They are, like all dripping dishes, slab-built and heavily knife-trimmed. Later medieval examples are known in Malvern Chase, Minety and Hereford A7b fabrics but they are by no means common (in comparison to the London region where they occur in several fabrics from the late 12th/early 13th century onwards). One of the Malvern Chase examples (from Holm Castle, Tewkesbury) has a small foot below the horizontal handle. This feature is found on London-type dripping dishes and is presumably to counteract the weight of the handle, which might otherwise cause the vessel to tip backwards.
Dripping dishes are more common in the post-medieval period, being found in 16th century Malvern Chase ware (where they are definitely oval shaped) and late 16th to 17th century Stroat, Ashton Keynes and Crockerton wares. In the latter examples the dishes are actually rectangular with a pouring lip at one corner.
Spouted bowls are straight-sided, deep vessels with a tubular spout, handle or handle socket at right angles to the body. Although it has been suggested that the socket was intended to hold a wooden handle several examples have been examined with this function in mind and no evidence for wear on the inside of the socket has been noted. The bowls are often sooted externally.
In the region, single examples of this form are known or may have been present in Bath fabric B/D, Bristol fabric C and Gloucester TF41b. They are more common in Somerset, where a group is known from sites just south of the Mendip Hills, including the Wedmore Bowl. This vessel was found with a coin hoard of c.1040. A pre-conquest 11th century date would be feasible for all three examples, although in each case the ware is also found in the later 11th and early 12th centuries.
Bowls are uncommon in the medieval period in the region, in contrast to several other areas, in particular East Anglia and the East Midlands. Shallow bowls or dishes, with diameters in the order of 300mm, are found in Oxford B fabric in the 9th and 10th centuries but are not known in any of the Late Saxon wares in the region. A similar form but with curving sides and sometimes with rims thickened by folding is found in East Wiltshire and Berkshire from the late 11th to the 14th centuries (Newbury A and Newbury B). It is thought, because of the sooting of the exterior, that this form may be used for cooking but handled examples are rare, although they are known in Newbury B and Newbury C fabrics. In size and probably function these vessels are similar to the frying-pans found in Dutch Red Earthenware from the late 13th century onwards. Rare examples are found further west, there is one example in Forest of Dean sandstone- tempered ware (with an internal glaze but no handle) and one example in North Cotswolds I ware.
These wide, shallow vessels are quite distinct from another group of bowls with flaring or conical sides and, usually a flanged or otherwise moulded rim. These vessels have similar diameters to the type described above but with base diameters in the order of 150mm. This form is sometimes termed a 'pan' or 'pancheon'. This type, too, is found with sooted exterior. The form is found in Cirencester fabric 201 in the late 12th or 13th centuries, Newbury B fabric, North Cotswolds II, the Surrey/Hampshire border (Coarse Border ware) and at Kingston-on- Thames in the late 13th to 14th centuries. At about this time the form is found in Malvern Chase ware, with an infolded or more usually a hollowed rim. (These vessels are refered to in the gazetteer as wheelthrown cooking pots/bowls to distiguish them from other forms of bowl in the same fabric). This form has a definite south/easterly distribution within the region.
From the late 15th century onwards there is an increase in the frequency of bowls. All are wheelthrown and of roughly conical form. In Minety ware, flanged bowls with flat tops are found in the latest phase of production (the same form is present in Coarse Border ware in the late 14th to 15th centuries). Similarly, Malvern Chase conical bowls with infolded rims are one of the most common 16th to early 17th century forms. This form, together with the infolded rim, is found in fine micaceous redware fabrics in the Welsh Border (for example Hen Gwrt, Gwent) and at Kidderminster (Kidderminster-type ware). Some of the Malvern Chase vessels have two small lugs at the sides, but this is a rare feature. .'Cream pans'.. A different form is found in Stroat ware, and in the Herefordshire kilns in the late 16th and 17th centuries. These vessels are possibly larger, often have 'T' rims and sometimes have wide pulled spouts. This form is sometimes known as a 'Cream pan'. Large horizontal loop handles are sometimes found. The Stroat examples sometimes have white slipped interiors. This form is also known in Ashton Keynes ware in the 17th century and Newent Glasshouse in the late 17th to 18th centuries. It is also known in Ashton Keynes ware in the 17th century and Newent Glasshouse in the late 17th to 18th centuries. It has been suggested that the occasional sooting found on these vessels is due to their use in making cream (Marshall, 1948, terms these vessels 'milk steens').
A quite separate form of bowl is termed for convenience a 'deep bowl' and has a form not unlike a flowerpot. This form is known in Ashton Keynes and Newent Glasshouse wares in the 17th and 18th centuries. Unlike the conical bowls there is never any evidence for sooting. The Ashton Keynes and Newent Glasshouse vessels differ somewhat in overall profile and in rim form but are quite similar in the range of sizes. Both types are internally glazed only and rarely if ever have handles.
The same form but in a much larger version is known in Newent Glasshouse ware. This type has two lug handles. A similar form is produced in Staffordshire in the late 18th to 19th centuries, if not earlier. .Small straight-sided bowls.. Another type of bowl is completely, or almost, cylindrical and is usually wider than it is tall. These small straight-sided bowls are found in Ashton Keynes ware and Newent Glasshouse ware and are probably a late 17th century innovation.
Sieves or collanders formed from bowls with square or round holes pushed through the walls are found, rarely, in a number of post-medieval wares, including Border ware, South Somerset ware, Stroat ware and Ashton Keynes ware. In all cases these collanders could be of 17th century date. Their absence from Malvern Chase ware might suggest that the form was introduced in the mid- century. It may be that their apparent absence from later 17th and 18th century wares (for example, none are known in Newent Glasshouse ware) might mean that they were superseded by metal vessels.
Spouted pitchers are of the same form as cooking pots but with a tubular spout and an opposing handle. They have no feet or base decoration. Body sherds can only be tentatively identified unless the fabric is limestone-tempered. In this case the internal inclusions are always noticably more heavily leached than the external ones. The outside of the vessels is never sooted and decoration is more often found (although many spouted pitchers are undecorated). Although all of the spouted pitchers found in the region are handmade the same form is found in the wheelthrown Saxo-Norman wares of East Anglia and the East Midlands (but not in Chester-type ware nor in Gloucester TF41a). It is thought that the type is 'late' in the Saxo-Norman pottery sequence, that is, 11th century rather than 10th (Hurst, 1977, Jennings, 1981).
It is likely, though still open to doubt, that spouted pitchers are a pre-Norman innovation. They occur at Bath Citizen House in contexts associated with Winchester-type ware but no locally made glazed wares but are not found at Silbury Hill in an early 11th century context.
Spouted pitchers are known in Bath fabrics A and B/D, Bristol fabrics A/B and C, and Gloucester TF41b. In all but the latter type the vessels are commonly stamped on the shoulder. Stamped pitchers are also found on Gloucester TF41b but are uncommon. Bristol A/B vessels are also decorated with grooving. It is thought possible, from evidence at Gloucester, that there is an overlap in date between spouted pitchers of Gloucester TF41b and glazed tripod pitchers of Minety and Malvern Chase wares. Spouted pitchers are not found in South Wales or the Welsh Marches. This might be an indication of the end date for the type, since local pottery production did not get underway until the 12th century in these areas.
These are small vessels with a wide neck and jar form with a handle and a tubular spout. All are wheelthrown. Only three types are known in the region of which by far the most common is Stamford ware. Winchester-type ware has a similar wide distribution whereas Hereford A7a pitchers are known from less than a dozen fragments.
All types have features in common: firstly the presence of tubular spouts (not known from Hereford A7a); secondly, the strap handle joins the rim at the rim top not, as in later jugs, just below the rim; thirdly, the lower handle join is always luted and thumbed and fourthly, all types have sagging bases with no decoration around the base angle. The types differ in decoration: Winchester-type vessels are often highly decorated whilst Stamford ware pitchers are usually plain. Hereford A7a pitchers are also plain except for bands of wheelthrown grooves on the body.
The introduction of glazed spouted pitchers is earliest in Stamford ware, in which late 9th and early 10th century vessels are known, although most of the examples in the region are 11th and early 12th century in date. Winchester-type ware pitchers are thought to have been introduced c.950 and are certainly pre-980, although again the majority of finds are in much later contexts both in Winchester itself (Biddle and Barclay, 1974, fig.2) and in the region as a whole. The introduction of Hereford A7a vessels is not so precisely dated but they are definitely contemporary with Chester-type ware, Gloucester TF41a and late 10th to early 11th century Stamford ware and are not therefore necessarily later than the Winchester-type ware vessels.
There are no known successors to the Hereford A7a vessels in the same fabric, nor is there any good evidence for the development of tripod pitchers from Winchester-type vessels (but see Biddle and Barclay, 1974, 152-4). Only at Stamford does an industry start off producing spouted pitchers and then switch over to jugs. The main difference between the spouted pitcher and the jug is in the rim and neck. Spouted pitchers appear to be essentially jars to which spouts and handles have been added whereas jugs have a shape of their own with a tall neck and relatively narrow rim (see below).
There is therefore a parallelism between the replacement of the glazed spouted pitcher by the early standard jug in the east and the replacement of the unglazed spouted pitcher by the glazed tripod pitcher in the west and south. In both cases the earlier type is similar in size and shape to the contemporary cooking vessels with the addition of a spout and handle whilst the later vessels have similar bodies to the contemporary cooking vessels but are larger and have relatively narrow necks. This difference in size suggests that the later vessels are not simply a development in the form of one type or class of vessel but fullfill a different function. There are no late 12th century serving vessels of comparable size to the spouted pitchers in any fabric.
Tripod pitchers are large three-footed vessels with a narrow neck and either a single handle or sometimes three handles. All have a spout or lip of some kind and all are glazed. They were first discussed as a type by Bruce-Mitford (1940). They must have been used for storing liquid, a full tripod pitcher would certainly be too heavy to carry and the handle and neck might well not have stood the strain of being lifted. The three feet would have allowed the vessel to tip foreward for pouring and would enable the pot to sit on an uneven surface, such as an earthen floor. In terms of size tripod pitchers overlap with other glazed jugs of the 13th century and later but are larger than the glazed and unglazed spouted pitchers of the 11th and early 12th centuries. Three main shapes of tripod pitcher are found, differing mainly in the shape of the base and the lower part of the body. All tripod pitchers in the region are handmade and it is likely that this form division parallels that found in the contemporary cooking pots because the two vessel types were produced by the same potters. There appears to be no functional difference between the types nor any obvious advantage in one form over another.
Only one type of round based tripod pitcher is found, that of S.E. Wilts. There is no good evidence for the starting date for this type. It might be of late 11th century date (and is taken in Winchester to mark the Norman conquest in the Winchester pottery sequence, pers. comm. K. Barclay) and is certainly found in the 12th and early 13th centuries. The origins of the type are completely unknown.
The most common tripod pitchr type has a sagging base and a globular body. There is a division between those vessels with a cylindrical or slightly flaring neck and those with a curving neck. Sometimes, as in Minety, Malvern Chase and Newbury C, the two types are both found in the same fabric and in all three examples the sharp necked type can be demonstrated to be earlier.
It is likely that this type originated in the early to mid- 12th century, certainly Minety tripod pitchers of curved neck form were present in Bristol by c.1125, although the Malvern Chase curving necked tripod pitcher do not appear until the begining of the 13th century. More use is made of applied thumbed strips on the sharp-necked types than on their successors, especially around the neck and used on the girth and shoulder to divide the upper half of the vessels into triangular zones.
The curving necked types tend to have more use of combing and of small triangular-sectioned strips, often as horizontal bands of straight and wavy combing or as slanting vertical lines.
In many cases there is a progression from tripod pitchers to frilled-base jugs in the same fabric, although in most cases the frilled-base jugs are rare. In one case, Newbury C, there is a vessel which combines feet with a thumbed base. In this particular case there is a true transformation from a tripod pitcher producing industry to one producing jugs. In Minety, with the exception of one bridge-spouted sherd and one complete thumbed base jug, there is a gap between the production of tripod pitchers and the later production of wheelthrown jugs. Similarly there is a change in fabric as well as firing and method of manufacture in Malvern Chase between the production of late tripod pitchers and the first wheelthrown jugs with only a few thumb-frilled jugs known in the earlier fabric.
Only two types of straight-sided tripod pitchers are known in the region; Shrewsbury-type and Hereford A4. Neither is known from complete vessels nor is either very common as sherd material because of the lack of excavation in their respective production areas (Shrewsbury? and North Herefordshire). Shrewsbury-type ware first appears in Gloucester in the early to mid-13th century and a similar starting date, (that is, later than Hereford A2 and Hereford A3 tripod pitchers) is found for Hereford A4. This might suggest that straight-sided tripod pitchers are much later than globular tripod pitchers, a conclusions which fits all of the available evidence (including Hen Domen, Barker, 1970, 33-34, where both short and long chronologies are possible) with the exception of evidence from Haughmond Abbey, Salop, where sherds of Shrewsbury-type tripod pitchers occur in contexts dated by the excavator to the early 12th century (pers. comm. Duncan Wilson).
The type of transition from tripod pitcher to jug production in these industries (if present) is not known. The Richards Castle wheelthrown jugs are in a similar fabric to Hereford A4 but with fewer inclusions whilst wheelthrown jugs in Shrewsbury are in a more heavily sand-tempered fabric. At Montgomery Castle however some wheelthrown roller-stamped jug sherds were found in a finer version of the Hen Domen siltstone-tempered ware.
A few wheelthrown tripod pitchers of this form occur in Developed Stamford Ware in the late 12th century. Like the Shropshire examples they have rectangular feet (termed 'ledge feet'). The relationship between this form and the Shropshire type is not known.
This type of jug is distinctive because of the absence of glaze and the fact that it always occurs in a ware producing mainly cooking pots. The body form is always globular with a sagging base. Some vessels, for example Newbury B, typically have no base decoration whilst others have thumbed bases (either regular or in groups, for example Hertfordshire Reduced Ware). A single unglazed handmade jug is known in North Cots. I fabric, found at Winchcombe in a 12th to 13th century context. This vessel has a rod handle and is decorated on the rim and handle with finger-nail nicking.
In other fabrics however the type is common. In Chepstow HA unglazed pitchers decorated with single square-tooth roller- stamping or combing are found from the 12th century into the late 13th century. The latest examples from Chepstow (site VI, late 13th to early 14th century) have a patchy glaze. These vessels are handmade but regularly wiped, perhaps on a turntable.
The jugs found at Awre, Gloucestershire, in Forest of Dean Sandstone-tempered ware are similar to these later Chepstow HA vessels. They too have a sparce plain glaze and are handmade.
In Newbury fabric B unglazed handmade pitchers are found from the late 12th century to the mid-14th century, if not later (at 83 St. Aldates, Oxford a smashed vessel of this type was found in a well, F45, with a late 14th to early 15th century Oxford AM jug, Haldon and Mellor, 1977,137, fig.24 No.1).
Deritend greyware pitchers can only be dated from a single example from Hereford (from an early 13th century context) and from the timber kitchen at Weoley Castle, West Midlands, where they occur in an early to mid-13th century sequence. It is quite possible that the type has an origin in the late 12th century. In terms of the origin of the type it is interesting to note the similarity in decoration between the Deritend slipware and that of London-type ware of the early to mid-13th century. Possibly the Deritend potter(s) originated in the London area, where unglazed pitchers from two sources were common.
In Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire reduced ware pitchers are found from the late 12th century to the late 13th century. They differ from those described above in being wheelthrown. They are usually plain except for the handles which are often highly decorated with deep thumb impressions and stabbing. The bases are usually sagging and often but not always thumbed.
Similar vessels are known from Limpsfield (Prendergast, 1974) and the Norwich area (Jennings, 1981, 48-50, Fig.17) whilst Grimston software jugs have a similar form but are often splash- glazed (Clarke and Carter, 1977, fig.78). The latter type is present in late 12th century contexts at Baker Lane, Kings Lynn, and is interpreted by Clarke and Carter as being an intermediate development between the Saxo-Norman spouted pitchers and the 13th century Grimston jugs.
There is an undoubted family resemblance between some of the essentially unglazed jug types and in fact little to show any descent from the spouted pitcher (for example, whilst late 12th century tripod pitchers often still had tubular spouts all of the present vessels have pulled spouts). The type is consistently later than tripod pitchers in the same areas and seems to appear over a wide area of the country at about the same time in the late twelfth century.
There is also abundant evidence that the type continued to thrive alongside glazed jugs in several areas. Indeed, Low Countries Greyware pitchers are unglazed with a similar shape to these vessels although they are not found in this country until the end of the 14th century. The demise in the later 14th century of the English unglazed pitcher is probably more to do with the end of the unglazed cooking pot industry in general than with any replacement of this form by a more suitable successor.
Being essentially unglazed, these vessels would not have held liquid for any length of time without leakage. However, this feature might actually have been put to some advantage in that evapouration of liquid from the surface of the vessel would serve to keep the contents cool. It is likely therefore that they were used essentially for some contents that were used up quickly and were not so valuable that loss by evapouration and seepage would be a problem. Their most likely function would be to fetch and temporarily store water.
There is a distinctive shape to the earliest wheelthrown jugs, typified by Developed Stamford Ware vessels. The lower half of the vessel is similar or identical to that of spouted pitchers and cooking pots (ie. plain sagging bases and gently curving or straight walls). The neck however always gently curves into the body and is usually nearly cylindrical. The rim forms differ from type to type. Two handle forms are found; rod and rectangular and there are two methods of handle attatchment; luting (eg. Dev. Stamford) and pushing through the body (eg. London-type). The spouts are pulled. A few Developed Stamford ware examples have recessed bases but these may be of thirteenth century date (Simpson, 1982, Fig.74 No.21).
To date, four production areas are known, all in the East of England. These are Stamford, the London area, Sible Hedingham and the East Midlands (St. Neots-type jugs). Sherds of this type were found at Newbury in the late 12th century levels of 143-5 Bartholomew Street. They were thought at the time to be the same fabric as Newbury C handmade tripod pitchers but may well have been from some other source, perhaps London-type ware. The only other examples of this form to occur in the region are rare sherds of Developed Stamford ware and St. Neots-type jugs.
The form appears in the mid-12th century (a date confirmed by dendrochronology in London for both London-type ware and Developed Stamford ware) but whereas in London the form has a short life, being replaced c.1200, it appears to be a standard Medieval form in other areas, for example northern and eastern England, throughout the Medieval period. Early standard wheelthrown jugs occur at the same time as the rise in the use of tripod pitchers in southern and western england and the two forms are also similar in size. Whereas tripod pitchers replace, but are larger than, unglazed spouted pitchers early standard wheelthrown jugs replace, but are larger than, glazed spouted pitchers.
A rare but distinct type was produced in Developed Stamford. It has three handles, all of full-size, and a free-standing tubular spout, supported by a clay bridge to the rim (Simpson, 1982, 162-4). This form is also found in the Nottingham, Grimston and Scarborough industries, where the vessels are often covered with modelled knights in relief (Clarke and Carter, 1977, 206, fig.91 No.12). A few examples of this type are known in the region, for example in Hereford A7b, but none are complete. A single sherd of a tubular spouted pitcher with a flaring rim and incised and stabbed decoration on the body is known in Hereford A3. This must therefore date to the first half of the 13th century.
A few lids are known in Stamford, Grimston and Scarborough wares. These are flanged with a locking device and are meant to fit onto these highly decorated tubular-spouted jugs. No examples have been found in the study region (Kings Lynn - Stamford ware: Clarke and Carter, 1977, 219, Fig.97, No.6-7; Norwich - Grimston ware: Jennings, 1981, Fig.23, No.385; Farmer, 1979, Kilmurry, 1980).
Jugs made in the form of human beings are rare in the region. They are however known from the late 12th century onwards (for example in London-type ware). The type has received considerable attention from Musty, who has produced a classification used to describe the material from Laverstock (Musty et al. 1969, 126- 132). Those jugs in which the arms and perhaps details of dress are shown are termed by him Anthropomorhic jugs, whilst those in only the face is shown are termed Face-decorated jugs. These are further divided into Type I: Face-on-spout jugs, Type II: Face- on-rim jugs, Type IIA: Stylized Face-on-rim Jugs in which crude faces surround the rim, which is usually of the grooved collar type. Type III: Face-on-body jugs have one or more plastic clay faces around the girth. Type IV have stamped faces on the body or rim. it appears from the illustrations that the Laverstock vessels have stamped applied pads rather than stamped bosses but the text does not make this clear (Musty et al. 1969, 130-1).
The Laverstock anthropomorphic jugs were a rare product, occuring in only one kiln, kiln 5. They are either spoutless or have a small tubular spout forming the nose of the jug. The hands are either folded on the chest or grasp the spout. All of the Laverstock vessels have a distinctive heart-shaped face with nicking around the edges representing the hair and beard.
The form is also found, rarely, at Kingston-on-Thames (Spencer, 1969, 388) which also produced a few examples with a Ram's head instead of a human one. Parts of one vessel were found at Berrington Street, site IV, Hereford in Hereford A7b. It is likely that a few examples were also produced in Bristol Redcliffe ware, (for example, Ponsford, 1979, Fig.23, from the Pithay, Bristol). Two sherds from the Nash Hill kiln site may be of this type or might be from 'Knight jugs' (Mc.Carthy, 1974, Fig.20 Nos.270-1).
It is likely that most of the examples of this type are of late 13th century to early 14th century date but a degenerate version is known on Coarse Border Ware (for example MOL Accn. No. 5628) and Border Ware (London Museum Catalogue, Pl.LXIV) and so may well survive into the late 15th or 16th century (No examples were found at Trig Lane in a large group of c.1440).
A distinct variation of the anthropomorphic jug has the figure represented on the side of the jug with the beard extended from the rim to join the body on the shoulder. This form occurs on Yorkshire jugs (Clarke and Carter, 1977, 212, Fig.94 Nos. 1, 2, 4 & 6) and possibly on Grimston ware (Clarke and Carter, 1977, 206-8, Fig.91, No.8). No examples are known from the region. ..Yorks wares ..Grinston ware
Another variant type is distinguished by its miniature size. The form is known in Kingston ware, where some vessels have moulded faces (Hinton, 1980; London Museum, 1954, Pl.LXIII No.4) and in Mill Green Ware. As on the full-scale vessels a rams head sometimes replaces the human one. No examples of these miniature jugs are known from the region.
This form, in which no details of the body or hands are shown, is frequently found in Bristol Redcliffe ware (Ponsford, 1979, 49-55). It may be that in Bristol this type is a simplification of the Anthropomorphic jug since one complete example is a flat-based standard jug thought to date from the 14th century (Ponsford, 1979, 54, Fig.22 No.2).
In both Bristol and Laverstock wares the treatment of the face on Anthropomorphic and Face-on-Spout jugs is very similar but the two groups differ considerably. Only one Bristol vessel has a beard (Ponsford, 1979, Fig.22 No.1). ..Bristol Redcliffe ..Laverstock
.Face-on-rim jugs..
The distinction between face-on-spout and face-on-rim jugs is that there is no attempt to represent a single individual, more than one face can be used on a vessel. The type is known from Laverstock (Musty et al. 1969, Fig.19 Nos.149-150) and from Nash Hill (Mc.Carthy, 1974, Fig.20 Nos. 263-4). The Nash Hill faces are very similar to those from Laverstock in having a heart-shape and nicked beards, but not however nicked hair.
A single example of this type is known in Bristol Redcliffe ware (Ponsford, 1979, Fig.22 No.1). The type is also known in Grimston-type ware (Clarke and Carter, 1977, 206-8, Fig. 91 Nos. 4, 6-9).
The stylized face was made from a small lump of clay, attatched usually to a grooved collar rim. First the lump was squeezed from the sides and then often the chin and mouth were formed by pushing the lump up. Eyes were often added with a round point or ring and dot stamp and the mouth, if indicated, was formed with a single groove. This type was used at Ham Green, for example surrounding the rim of the Wharton Street, Cardiff jug (Lewis, 1978, 10, No.11 where the eyes are represented by ring stamps) but was also used on Bristol Redcliffe jugs (Ponsford, 1979, Fig.22 No.3). A single example is known on a Worcester-type ware jug from Hereford (Vince, forthcoming a). It was the earliest type of face-decoration used at Laverstock (Musty et al. 1969, 127, Fig.19 Nos.151, 158-160) and is also present at Nash Hill (Mc.Carthy, 1974, Fig.20 Nos. 266-7). The type is also apparently quite common around Oxford in the late 13th century (fabric AM? Hinton, 1973 Nos.11 and 12). Quite often, on all these types, the human aspect is completely lost (for example Nash Hill, Mc.Carthy, 1974, Fig.19 Nos. 250, 252).
This type is related to other jugs where applied pads around the rim have either no decoration, combed lines, vertical grooved lines, ring and dot stamps or more complicated stamps. All these variations are present at Laverstock, the ring and dot stamped pads are present at Nash Hill and the combed pads are found, rarely, on London-type ware of the first half of the 13th century. These pads, and the stylized faces, are a thirteenth century feature first appearing no later than c.1250 since they are found on Ham Green and Worcester-type jugs but continuing into the second half of the century.
This form, in which the body of the jug is turned into a representation of one or more large faces by a mixture of applied features and grooved decoration is found at Laverstock, where a number of sherds of smaller faces are also included. It is possible that the latter might better fit into the class of 'Knight jugs' since they may be parts of jugs decorated with scenes. Laverstock is the only source in the region for face-on- body jugs but Musty quotes an example, which might or might not be a Laverstock product, from Winchester. A single sherd of a very similar jug in London-type ware is in the Museum of London (MOL Accn. No.11529). The face is over 150mm tall and the nose is applied whilst the rest of the features are shown by sgraffito lines and the eyes, like the Laverstock examples, are shown by ring and dot stamps.
An early to mid-thirteenth century date is likely for both the London-type jug and the Laverstock examples.
Stamped faces are only known on Laverstock jugs (Musty et al. 1969, Fig.20 Nos.161-5). As Musty states, these vessels are best considered as part of a wider group of stamped pellet jugs, examples of which were found in the latest phase at Laverstock. ..Laverstock
Jugs decorated with applied figures or animals are here grouped together as Knight jugs, although not all the representations are of knights. The type is known in the region in Ham Green ware, including a few complete vessels where the composition of the scene can be discerned. One of these is a hunting scene with a man armed with bow and arrow, a dog and a stag (from St. Peters, Bristol with an almost identical fragment from the Ham Green kiln site, Barton, 1963). Another consists of a frieze of women holding hands (Lewis, 1978, No.11).
At a later date the type is known in Bristol Redcliffe ware, although it is not common. Two large fragments are known: one from Dublin (N.M.I., 1973, Pl.18) and the other from the Pithay, Bristol (Ponsford, 1979). Fragments of similar jugs are known from the Nash Hill kiln site. Representational decoration is much rarer on other wares in the region, although occasional examples do occur, for example an animal on a fragment of Newbury C jug from Newbury (Vince, forthcoming). This example is probably contemporary with the Ham Green ware vessels and emphasises the point that there is probably not a single highly-decorated phase in Medieval pottery. The earliest examples of highly-decorated jugs were produced in Developed Stamford ware and thus might be late 12th century in date, although it is possible that they were amongst the later products of the industry. Nevertheless, a date in the first half of the 13th century is certain for the Developed Stamford ware vessels, the Ham Green vessels and the Newbury C sherd.
The most common jug form in the 13th century and later is termed here a 'standard' form. Other possible names are 'rounded' and 'bulbous'. All these names indicate a vessel that is taller than it is wide with a neck that curves into the body and a base that is just narrower than the girth and a base angle that is roughly a right angle, sometimes more and sometimes less. The standard jug has one handle leaving the neck just below the rim and joining the body at or slightly above the girth. The earliest jugs of this form are handmade and of early to mid-13th century date and in this region are sometimes extremely similar in shape, fabric and method of manufacture to the tripod pitchers, for example Malvern Chase jugs, Ham Green jugs (especially type 'A'), Oxford fabric Y jugs (for example Hinton, 1973 No.8) and Minety jugs. At the same time, or perhaps slightly later, Worcester-type jugs first appear. Although of a very similar form to the standard jugs mentioned above, they are wheelthrown and tend to be narrower on average. In many respects Ham Green and Worcester- type jugs are very similar: they both have flat-topped rims with a stepped profile on the exterior; they both have strap handles with a sub-rectangular profile (compared with the broad U-shape of Minety handles for example). To counteract this similarity however there are significant differences in decoration and most importantly the difference in manufacturing method. This form remains the most common throughout the medieval period. The only changes of any importance are in decoration (vessels of 13th century date are usually decorated in some way, even if only by horizontal grooving, whereas 14th and 15th century standard jugs are plain, or at least plainer) and in the form of the base. 13th to early 14th century bases are sagging with a thumbed frill or thumbing whilst later 14th to 15th century jugs have flat bases. Although rare, standard jugs are still found in the late 15th to 16th century, for example in Malvern Chase ware, but become less common, if found at all, in late 16th to 17th century wares. In their place are found smaller, squat vessels with a wide neck and pulled spout.
Baluster jugs are distinguished by their great height in relation to their width. Most baluster jugs are substantially taller than contemporary standard jugs but there has been no comparison made of their capacities (within the region). The baluster jug is a phenomenon of the late 13th to 14th century in the region although in London-type ware it is known, but extremely rare, from the late 12th century and is common from the mid-13th to the mid-14th century.
The other distinguishing feature of the baluster jug is the presence of a constriction just above the base, giving rise to a sharply acute base angle. This is often the only distinguishing feature of the form in sherd collections. It is probable that this feature, which can occur on shorter vessels as well, is partly functional in that such a tall vessel would need to be supported with two hands whilst pouring and the constriction would give a better grip than any other base form. Illustrations of medieval jugs in use show clearly that two hands were used (Hartley and Eliot, 1931, pl.39). The baluster form occurs in all of the major late 13th to 14th century potteries of the region and is often, as at Laverstock, highly decorated. At Laverstock the form occurs in the earliest kilns alongside standard jugs and is the predominant form in the later kiln groups.
A distinct variant occurs in Oxford AM and in the London area (London-type and Kingston wares). This form is very tall with a curving body divided into three zones for decoration. This type is termed in the Oxford region the 'triple decker' (Hinton, 1973, No.13). Later Oxford AM vessels are less highly decorated and narrower (Hinton, 1973, No.14).
The Malvern Chase baluster jugs are known mainly from sherds but two complete examples are known (Vince, 1977, pl.5 nos.2 & 3). They differ markedly in shape, one being essentially cylindrical with a slight bulge at the girth whilst the other has a 'top heavy' appearance with a narrow constriction above the base and a wide base flange. The latter form is known in Kingston ware, where the upper part of the vessel is covered in rilling and the base is often heavily knife-trimmed. Neither feature is found on the Malvern Chase example. The wide flanged baluster base is known on Saintonge green-glazed baluster jugs and on a few Minety jugs. The only highly decorated Minety jugs known are of baluster form and come from Cirencester Abbey.
It is unlikely that the baluster form suvived in the region later than the mid-14th century but it is found (though rarely) in Coarse Border Ware in London (often with a rudimentary face and hands and the use of both plain and green glaze to emphasise the decoration. This type could be as early as c.1340 but it has not been found at Trig Lane, suggesting a later 15th or even 16th century date.
A distinctive type of jug is found in late medieval Minety Ware. This type is small, has little or no decoration and has a globular body and cylindrical neck. The form is not dissimilar to that of 16th century Cologne and Frechen drinking jugs but is undoubtedly earlier, being found in the late 13th century at Laverstock (Musty et al. 1969, Fig.15 No.108). These small jugs are known in Kingston ware, where they are one of the latest products of the industry and in Minety ware, where they were a regular product. A single example has been noted in Bristol Redcliffe ware (unstratified, Bristol City Museum) but the type may well be more common. Having no distinctive features except its shape and size it is difficult to identify from sherd collections. Despite the similarlity to Rhenish drinking vessels in form these small rounded jugs have a greater capacity and sometimes a pulled spout. They were probably used for serving liquids.
The term 'Biconical jugs' has been applied to two quite different forms: firstly to late medieval jugs in Oxford AM fabric which are of the same size as 'standard' jugs with no sharp neck angle and a very sharp angle at the girth (Hinton, 1973, No.15). This form always has a pulled spout and is usually decorated with vertical applied strips. The type is first found in the 14th century. A few body sherds in Newbury fabric C may also be from vessels of this form but otherwise the type was not produced elsewhere in the region. It is likely that the form imitates a metal original, the sharp angle is not a natural shape for pottery.
The other form is found at Cheam in the late 14th and 15th centuries (Orton, 1982, Fig. Nos.24-30). It is small and narrow with no pouring lip and a distinct neck angle. The sharp angle is again at the girth but the girth is much higher on the body on the Cheam vessels than on the Oxford AM ones. Orton suggests that these vessels are actually drinking jugs (1982, 80-81). The form is also known in Coarse Border Ware and from a dump of whiteware wasters from Southwark (Orton, 1982, 85) but does not appear to have been traded to or produced in the region.
The term standing costrel is given by Hurst to vessels with two suspension lugs at the neck, a restricted neck and a flat base. The form is known in Iberian red micaceous ware from the 14th century onwards but is not made locally until the 16th century. A single example in a slightly sandy, micaceous fabric, thought to be Hereford A6 was found in a late 16th to early 17th century context at Berrington Street, Hereford. The form is also found in Border ware of late 16th or 17th century date (Holling, 1971, 79, type K2).
A large number of light-bodied yellow glazed standing costrels were produced in the Verwood potteries but their absence from archaeological collections suggests a very late date for this type (Brears, 1971, 178).
The earliest ceramic bottles known, excluding those of the 6th and 7th centuries imported from Northern France (Evison, 1974), are of the late 13th century. They can be very difficult to identify in sherd material because of the overlap in size and shape with 'drinking jugs'.
Bottles are defined as vessels with a very constricted neck (suitable for corking) and, possibly, no handle. The form is very rare in the region but is known in the late medieval period in Bristol Redcliffe and Oxford AM wares. These vessels sometimes have an internal glaze. In both wares the form is tall and thin with a flat base and simple, slightly everted rim. Examples found on the Laverstock kiln site were unglazed and were considered by Musty to have been used for containing oily materials of low vapour pressure and high viscosity (Musty et al. 1969, 134, fig.22 nos. 179-180). Two examples are published by Barker from Petton and Shrewsbury (Shropshire) (Barker, 1970, fig.23).Similar shaped vessels are known from Cheam (Surrey) in the late 14th or 15th centuries and were considered by Marshall to be measures (Marshall, 1924, 86, fig.8).
A few vessels in Malvern Chase ware have similarly been termed bottles. They are of late 15th to 16th century date (one coming from a 16th century pit) and are handled. Similar small jugs/bottles have been discussed by Dunning, who suggested that they were cruets, though probably not all for religious use (Dunning, 1969, Lewis, 1968). Thorn has published a medieval illustration showing similar small jugs in use in food preparation (Thorn, 1973) and Henisch has reproduced an illustration which shows such vessels being used to garnish roast meat with sauces immediately prior to it being served at table (Henisch, 1976, 140, Fig.25).
Aquamaniles were, as the name suggests, used to wash the hands at table and are also found in copper alloy (Nelson,1932). No substantial part of an aquamanile has been found in the region, although one exists in Shrewsbury (Barker, 1970, fig.29, plate I). This vessel, which has no rider is thought by Barker to represent a boar. Part of an aquamanile in the form of a mounted knight in Bristol Redcliffe ware has been found in the St. Peter's excavation at Bristol and the leg of an aquamanile, heavily knife-trimmed, was found in Hereford in Hereford A7b fabric.
Four aquamaniles were found in the kiln excavations at Laverstock (Musty et al. 1969, 132-3, fig.22 nos.174-6). Two were definitely representations of horses but none had any evidence for a rider, indeed one (no.174) was complete enough to show that it was riderless.
Two late 13th to early 15th century wares produced small dishes with straight, slightly everted walls and simple rims; Malvern Chase and Hereford A7b. In both fabrics the form is a rareity. An example is published from a late 13th to early 14th century pit group in Winchester (Cunliffe, 1964, Fig.32, No.6).
It is more common in the London area, where it is present in Kingston ware and, rarely, in London-type ware. A late 13th to 14th century date can be assigned to the London examples.
It is possible that these dishes are saucers, in the original sense of the word, ie. small vessels used to serve sauces at table. (Henisch, 1976, 169 & 174) Small vessels of this shape can be seen on several medieval illustrations but it is not possible to say that they were made of pottery.
The Chafing dish is an open vessel liberally perforated to allow air to circulate over hot coals or charcoal. It was used to warm a tray of food and therefore normally has projections around the rim both to support the tray and to keep up the circulation of air. Chafing dishes first appear in metal in the late 15th century and were very soon copied in pottery (Lewis, 1973, 59- 69). There are in fact some pottery chafing dishes, in Tudor Green ware for example, which are earlier than this, perhaps late 14th century. There are two main methods of producing a chafing dish in pottery. One is to throw a pedestalled bowl and to insert a base into it and the other is to throw two separate pieces, the bowl and the foot and to lute them together. The latter method exclusively was used to produce Malvern Chase chafing dishes. There is abundant evidence for their presence early in the 16th century but little to confirm a late 15th century starting date (but mainly through lack of datable contexts). The Malvern Chase chafing dishes closely copy the metal form (Lewis's Type B1). In this type the vessels have added projections along the rim, two opposing handles (which on the metal vessels are drop handles) and circular holes through the sides and base of the bowl and usually in the sides of the foot. The foot has a solid base. A single chafing dish is known in Minety ware, also probably of this form although only the rim remains. It is unlikely that the Minety industry lasted much beyond 1500 and the findspot, Cirencester Abbey, also suggests a pre-dissolution date. Rare examples of Saintonge ware chafing dishes are found in the region in late 16th century contexts. In these vessels the projections are elaborated into applied panels covering the whole wall of the bowl. These are either roughly moulded into a human face or bust or occasionally much more complex moulded panels are found. The latter type is known from Bristol but not elsewhere in the region. The Stroat industry also produced chafing dishes of this type but with triangular holes cut out of the base rather than small circular ones. The use of pottery chafing dishes does not seem to have lasted into the late 17th century as they were not produced in the Staffordshire/Bristol industries nor at Newent Glasshouse. They are however present in a Civil War group found at Westbury College, Westbury-on-Trym (pers. comm. M. Ponsford).
Plates are normally defined as vessels with a height less than one seventh of their height (taller vessels being termed dishes). In functional terms the difference if any between a plate and a dish (the term dish is used for vessels with widely differing sizes but the same basic shape) would be that a plate could be used for a solid meal whereas a dish could be used for more liquid food or for serving a meal which would then be shared between diners.
Two basic shapes of plate/dish exist: those with a flat base, flat flange rim and a sharp angled wall between the two (for example found in Border ware in the late 16th to 17th centuries) and those with a foot-ring base and a continuously curving profile to the rim (for example tin-glazed ware, and, without the foot-ring, Staffordshire - Bristol moulded plates). There is large range of shapes and width/height ratios between different vessels in the first group and in many cases no obvious break between 'plates' and 'dishes' or 'bowls'. Many of these vessels are highly decorated and have holes pierced in the foot-ring bases. This suggests that they were displayed when not in use by being hung on the wall. Valencian Lustreware was actually displayed on a cup-board during feasts (as can be seen in contemporary illustrations, for example a painting of a Court Feast attributed to Apollonio di Giovanni (Italian, 15th C.) reproduced by Husband, 1970, Pl.5).
Large plates/dishes of Valencian Lustreware were found at the Pithay, Bristol and are of 15th century date and examples of other imported plates and dishes are occassionally found in the region (Beauvais Sgraffitto ware - 16th Century, Werra ware - late 16th to 17th C.) and in the early 17th century these are joined by locallly produced vessels (Border ware and the Post- medieval Welsh borderland kilns, including rare slip-trailed vessels from the North Herefordshire kilns (for example, a vessel from Wigmore Abbey, Smith, forthcoming). However, the main use of these decorated plates and dishes began quite suddenly in the third quarter of the 17th century, for example Newent Glasshouse (probably c.1670 onwards) and the Staffordshire/Bristol embossed moulded slipware plates (first found apparently at St. Nicholas Almshouse, Bristol, Barton, 1964, Fig.67 No.24, in a pre-1650 context. However, the type is predominantly found in groups dated by clay pipes to c.1670 or later (eg. Gloucester Eastgate).
Plates of similar appearance to those used today first appeared during the last quarter of the 17th century in tin- glazed ware. They were made by press-moulding and have turned bases, sometimes with a low foot-ring but often completely flat- based.
Condiments are small open multi-compartmental vessels which are presumed to have been used for serving condiments at table. They are of two forms: the first is slab-built and has two or more rectangular compartments. The second is formed from a wheelthrown dish by adding a central division. Neither type is very common. A fragmentary example is published from a late 13th to early 14th century pit group from Winchester (Cunliffe, 1964, Fig.32, No.7).
Salts are vessels, often quite elaborate, which were used to serve salt at table. The salt was a centre for the ritual of dining and the richest households would have had extremely ingenious vessels made of precious metals (Henisch, 1976, 164). In pottery, salts are a Tudor development of the condiment and have a small bowl which could be supported either by a stemmed foot or could be part of a figurine. Both types are found in the region but neither is common. The cup type was made in Cistercian-type ware (Brears, 1971, 23 Type 16) and the former is known in a fine Cistercian-type ware from Hereford (Hereford A7c) whilst the latter is known from two vessels from Cardiff, a Saintonge figurine of an angel and a Cistercian-type ware female. The precise date of either type is uncertain although it is most likely that they are of 16th century date. No examples in 17th or 18th century fabrics are known.
Cisterns are large jar-shaped vessels with three feet, two handles and a rim which could take a lid. This either takes the form of a lid-seating (as on Coarse Border ware, and less well- pronounced on Malvern Chase ware) or sometimes an external flange (as on some Minety vessels). The form is introduced to the region in the late 15th century but was certainly produced in Coarse Border ware in the late 14th century. Three centres are known to have produced cisterns; Langley Burrell, Malvern Chase and Minety.
Bung-hole jugs, as the name implies have a jug form (ie. a narrow neck, one handle and no feet) but have a bung-hole in the side just above the base. There is little apparent difference is capacity between these jugs and Cisterns and it many be that both forms performed the same function.
The bung-hole jug is not produced in the region, although it is found in Coarse Border ware (for example, a complete vessel from Abingdon). This form is more common in the north and east of the country.
The first systematic study of medieval ceramic lamps is that of Jope (1952-3). In Jope's typology a development is shown from simple hanging lamps with pointed bases to vessels with pedestals and a splayed foot, 'double-shell' vessels with a hollow foot that could be used either way up and finally to lamps which have an outer tray to catch drips.
The incidence of lamps in the study region is limited and can be divided into two groups, an early handmade pedestal-based group and a later wheelthrown group. Precisely how early the pedestal-based lamps are in the region is difficult to tell. A chaff-tempered lamp was one of the earliest stratified sherds found in the excavation at Cheddar Palace, dating to the late 9th or 10th centuries. There is a single example from Gloucester in Gloucester TF41a, and single-shell pedestal-based lamps are known in Oxford Fabric B, although found outside the study region in the City of London. These vessels should therefore date at the latest to the late 10th or early 11th centuries.
The majority of pedestal-based lamps are probably of post- conquest date. A large collection of lamps was found at Cheddar Palace, all in a locally made limestone-tempered fabric (Rahtz, 1979, 321-2, Fig.100 Nos.33-54). Pedestal-based handmade lamps are more common in the south and east of the region than in the north and west. There are very few known from Hereford for example. In this, the lamps are similar to the Spouted Pitchers. In addition to those noted above, examples are known in Newbury A, Bristol A/B, Bristol C and Bath A fabrics.
Later, wheelthrown lamps are extremely rare. Examples of double-shell lamps are known in Malvern Chase and Minety wares, of late 13th to 15th century date, and 'double-shell' lamps were amongst the products of the Laverstock kilns in the mid-late 13th century.
Pottery candlesticks are a late 16th or 17th century introduction but are rare. They are known in two wares: Staffordshire - Bristol slipware (red-bodied, with white slip- trailing and light-bodied with red slip-trailing), and Hampshire - Surrey Border ware (undecorated). In all three fabrics the vessels have a socket into which to fit the candle and a flange to catch the drips.
Wheelthrown storage jars are a distinctive feature of the late saxon pottery of Eastern England, for example the vessels made in Thetford-type wares (Hurst, 1976, fig.7.14 no.5). They usually have a tubular spout and three handles and are often decorated or reinforced with applied, thumbed strips.
.Handmade spouted storage jars.
Similar large, handmade, three handled vessels, decorated with individual stamps and with a tubular spout are found in a handmade, flint-tempered ware in southern Hampshire (for example, a complete example from Winchester, Cunliffe, 1964, Fig.34, No.1). However, this form is completely unknown in the region, with the exception of a single glazed Stamford ware vessel from Hereford.
Two two-handled glazed jars exist in Minety ware, of 12th or 13th century date. There is no evidence that either had a spout.
Given the size of some of these vessels it is highly unlikely that the spout could be functional, nor is it likely that the handles could be used for suspension when the vessel was full. It is possible that some fragments of this type could be mistaken for spouted pitchers (the difference in form being that the pitchers have a single handle and have a smaller body).
Rare comb-decorated sherds in Newbury A fabric from mid-12th century and later contexts at Bartholomew Street, Newbury, might be from storage jars and were certainly from large vessels. No handles or spouted examples were found.
.Large vessels of cooking pot form.
It is possible that some of the larger vessels of cooking pot form were actually made and used for storage. For example, a few vessels in Hereford A2 fabric must have been very large and a complete very large wheelthrown vessel of cooking pot form exists in Minety ware at Cirencester. Such vessels have been recognised as a class by Dunning, who published illustrations of a series of complete examples from south-eastern England (Andrews and Dunning, 1939). It appears that most of his examples could be of late 12th or 13th century date, as could those from the study region. A few of the examples published by Dunning had thickened, recessed bases, sometimes thumb-frilled. This is a feature not found in the study region.
Most of the jars in post-medieval wares in the region are of a smaller size than the medieval vessels described above but large storage jars are known in the London area, for example from Woolwich, in the 17th century (Pryor and Blockley, 1978). Such large storage jars may have been made in Stroat ware, although no complete examples are known.
Although it is likely that some vessels of cooking pot shape were actually used for dry storage rather than cooking there is no indication of a separate form for storage with the exception of the few Saxo-Norman Storage Jars (described above) until the 15th century. They are first found in Malvern Chase ware in the late 15th century and it is not often possible to distinguish even quite large fragments from those of pipkins. The incidence of jars in Malvern Chase ware certainly increased during the 16th century and in particular in the second half of the century. At this time the tall form with sharp shoulder and everted rim became recognisable. The vessels usually have some strengthening around the rim, normally in the form of an applied strip, with or without thumb impressions. A few complete profiles are known and these indicate a moderate size, about 300-400mm tall. The same form has been found in Hereford A7d fabric (but has not yet been recognised on the Post-medieval Welsh borderland kiln-sites). Similar vessels are known in Stroat and Ashton Keynes wares.
A different form of jar is known from the Post-medieval Welsh borderland kiln-sites and in Staffordshire coarseware. This is a cylindrical vessel with or without a handle and often with internal glaze. The type is often known as a 'butter-pot' and is remarkable in the region for its rareity. There is a possibility that the Post-medieval Welsh borderland examples are actually saggars, although some of the PMWB kilnsites also produce thicker walled vessels with thumbed holes in the side and no glaze which are recognisably saggars.
Lids for jars and cisterns are found in the late 15th century and later. They are mainly of the 'Chinamans hat' form which has a flat top and gently flaring sides.
In the late 15th century lids are found in Malvern Chase ware and Minety ware and at an earlier date are first found in Coarse Border ware. In the late 16th to 17th century lids are found amongst the products of the Herefordshire kilns. It is likely that these lids were meant to be used on cisterns and jars. However, there are considerably more jars and cisterns than there are lids in any of these wares and it is likely that most lids were made of wood.
The term cup is used here to denote any vessel with one or more handles used for drinking. This is an extremely broad category and encompasses several quite distinct types: lobed cups; Cistercian ware types (see Brears, 1971, 19-23); Tall flaring cups with two or more handles (also known as tygs); Short mugs with one handle and a curving body and cylindrical tankards. Quite often these vessels break into small fragments and cannot be reconstructed. Thus this account is based on a very small number of complete profiles and large fragments even though, from the late 15th century onwards cups of various types formed an increasingly large and important class of pottery.
A discussion of the origins of the lobed cup can be found in Hurst (1974) where two basic types are distinguished, those with a handle joining the body at the side and those with a handle joining the body at the base. The latter type is said to be of Northern French origin and is not found in the region.
The most common type found in the region is the Tudor Green type in which the cup is short and wide with five to seven lobes. This type is also found in Malvern Chase ware, often with a white slip and green glaze (a good series is known from Hereford).
A lobed cup has also been found at the Nash Hill kiln site (Mc.Carthy, 1974), suggesting that local production of the type began in the 14th century. They were certainly being produced in Coarse Border ware from the late 14th century, but are extremely rare.
The published type series of Cistercian-type wares produced by Brears (1971, 19-23) shows a much greater variety that that found in the Severn Valley. The main forms found are a globular bodied cup with a tall flaring rim and two or three handles and a globular-bodied cup with a short cylindrical rim and two or three handles. The first form is found in Cistercian-type ware, Malvern Chase ware and (one example) Hereford A7b in the 16th century. The latter form is only known in Cistercian-type ware, including material from the Falfield waster dump. <-- ..>
Cistercian ware ..
Malvern Chase ..
Her A7b ..
Her A7d --
A distinctive form of cup has a solid moulded base and a tall, flaring body with relatively small handles (often two set close together). It is found in two wares in the region: Staffordshire black-glazed redware and 'Post-medieval blackglazed ware' a type thought to have been produced in the Harlow area. The latter type certainly appears earlier than the Staffordshire one at Gloucester Eastgate, although the more ornate flaring cups produced in Staffordshire are not found in the region (and are probably earlier in date).
This type is hardly ever found in the region and consists of a small globular or curving body, a short cylindrical neck with a single handle. The form is closely allied to the Cistercian ware type (see above) but only has the one handle. Examples are known in Border ware and tin-glazed ware in the early to mid-17th century (Haslam, 1975, discusses this type in relation to the kiln site at Cove).
Flanged lids are known in both Border ware and the Staffordshire/Bristol industries, probably for use on cups and mugs. The Staffordshire/Bristol lids are likely to be of late 17th to 18th century date but the Border ware examples may be earlier.
Tankards are defined here as cylindrical vessels with a single handle. The form is known in metal, for example silver (Oman, 1965, plates 45, 54, 87). Examples are also known in Frechen and Siegburg stoneware, dating from the second half of the 16th century. Tankards appear to fall into two groups, one tall with a marked tapering from bottom to top and the other squatter and mor nearly cylindrical. The taller type includes the Rhenish stoneware vessels and some silverware vessels and appears to be of late 16th to mid-17th century date. The squatter type is found in Cistercian-type ware in the late 16th century and in the Herefordshire kilns and Late Worcester sandy ware in the 17th century. These types commonly have bands of horizontal decoration (normally wheel-thrown grooving, but in the case of the Cistercian-type ware corrugations). This suggests that they might have been imitating wooden vessels with horizontal binding. A similar impression is obtained from the Staffordshire mottled- glazed tankards of the early 18th century which have raised bands of ribbing at the rim, girth and base. The incidence of tankards certainly increased during the late 17th and particularly the early 18th centuries when they are found in Westerwald stoneware, tin-glazed ware and a variety of Staffordshire and Bristol stonewares and earthenwares.
The term drinking jug is used to to refer to a vessel of jug form (that is, a globular or curving body, a roughly cylindrical neck and a single handle) which is of small size, that is, a capacity of less than a quart and which does not have a spout. Such vessels are present in Rhenish stoneware from at least the early fourteenth century, for example the 'Jacoba' form of Siegburg ware, and the tradition continued there throughout the later middle ages and into the 18th century (Westerwald stoneware). Similar vessels have been identified in the London area, for example in London-type ware from the late 13th century onwards and at Cheam in the late 14th and 15th centuries (Orton, 1982, Fig.17 Nos. 24-30) but they are not produced in the region at all in the medieval period. A few copies of the Rhenish form are known in the region in the late 16th or 17th century, for example in Hereford A7d and Malvern Chase.
Drinking jugs often had lids, especially Frechen and Westerwald vessels, but these lids were always made of metal rather than pottery.
Curfews are large hemisperical vessels with a loop handle at the top which were used to cover an open hearth at night. A discussion of the typology of the curfew can be found in Hurst, 1964. Amongst the distinguishing features, Hurst notes soot blackening of the interior, a thumbed band at the junction of the sides and top (not always present), a strap handle at the top, pierced holes at either end of the handle (not always present) and pierced holes in the sides (not always present).
Most known examples are unglazed and hand-made, although an internally glazed example is known from Gloucester in Malvern Chase ware. Most examples have some piercing of the body, either a central hole in the top, holes at either end of the strap handle or holes in the body. Without some ventilation the Curfew would simply smother the fire. The only positive proof that a vessel is a Curfew is the presence of the handle. Therefore, it is quite possible that the frequency of curfews has been underestimated. However, even taking this into account ceramic curfews cannot have been very common and were certainly not present in every household which had an open hearth.
There are two basic curfew shapes: completely hemispherical (as found at Norwich, Jennings, 1981, 42, Fig.13) and inverted bowl shape (as found at Winchester, Cunliffe, 1964, 126, Fig.45, Nos.1 & 2) Curfews are found in Malvern Chase ware in the early and later 13th century and are known in the late 13th to early 14th century in Laverstock ware (Musty, Algar and Ewence, 1969, 138-9), Newbury Group B (a suspect identification from one sherd) and Minety. The Minety group comes exclusively from Cirencester Abbey in a late 13th to early 14th century context and contains fragments of several vessels. This preponderance of curfew fragments at one site is unusual but cannot be explained.
The evolution of the chamber pot is ilustrated by Amis (1968). Medieval vessels are not known but there are a variety of ceramic urinals, of which the most common form is a squat, flat- based vessel with an inverted rim and a horizontal loop handle. This form is not known in any of the local wares in the region, although examples are known from Shropshire.
In the early 17th century vessels with a similar form to the later chamber pots (that is, a flat base, globular body, single vertical handle and wide neck) are found in the Herefordshire kilns. A white-slipped example is known from Gloucester from an early 17th century context. However, These vessels have rounded, beaded rims rather than the flat or sharply everted rims of the later vessels. That they are in fact chamber pots is suggested by the typical light brown deposit on the inside of the vessels. The same form, together with an everted rim form, is found in the last quarter of the 17th century in Newent Glasshouse ware.
More typical chamber pots are found in the later 17th century in Staffordshire black-glazed redware and light-bodied slipware. These were complemented by locally made, undecorated, tin-glazed ware vessels, mainly in the early to mid-18th century. White Staffordshire salt-glazed stoneware chamber pots were produced in the mid-18th century.
Towards the middle of the 18th century a new form appeared, the stool pan. This was intended to be used in a wooden comode and thus has a conical body and a flat-topped rim. This form occurs locally in white Staffordshire salt-glazed stoneware and in locally made, undecorated, tin-glazed ware.
Crucibles have been found in moderate quantities throughout the region. In most cases they are made in white-firing clay tempered with abundant medium quartz sand and are of hemispherical or globular form. No attempt has been made to characterise these vessels nor has the typology been studied in detail (it is better than they should be looked at as an aspect of the metalurgical industry). One type of crucible occurred in a characterised fabric, Gloucester TF41a. These vessels are very shallow and are covered in a lead glass. Although similar Late Saxon glass-working residues are known from Coppergate, York and Flaxengate, Lincoln no vessels precisely paralleling the Gloucester crucibles are known.
The term 'West Country Vessel' was coined by Jope in 1952 to describe a handmade vessel having a rim and body like the upper third of a cooking pot, and being of the same general diameter. They are, however, truncated and have a sagging base and typically an acute angled base. The side of the vessel is always pierced by at least one circular hole.
The true function of these vessels remains completely unknown although there are numerous suggestions in print. Amongst these are that they were the bases of bee-hives, that they were used in cheese-making and that they were used as curfews. It is likely that the form has a limited date-range in the 12th century. All of the vessels known were made in a relatively restricted area; the further north being Malvern Chase and the furthest south being South East Wiltshire. In the west, the vessels are known from sites in south Wales, although probably all were imported via Bristol. West country vessles are not found in Herefordshire or Shropshire to the north-west nor in Berkshire and Oxfordshire to the east.
A single Bristol Redcliffe vessel with two square compartments, one of which is partially enclosed, is thought possibly to be an inkwell. The second compartment might then contain a powder to dust over the parchment. With this exception there are no known ceramic inkwells in the region until their mass-production in the 19th century in grey stoneware. Writing sets are known in Westerwald stoneware, in the 18th century but are rarely found in this country (Reineking-Von Boch, 1971, Nos. 719-732).