Pottery from the RiseleyTest-pits (Site RIS/15)
EMS: Early Anglo-Saxon. Crude pottery made by the pagan Anglo-Saxons. Most people probably made their own pottery of this type, dug from clay close to where they lived and fired in bonfires. Most pots were plain, simple forms such as jars and bowls, but some, often used as cremation urns, were decorated with stamps and scored linear patterns. First made around AD450, very rare after AD800.
STAM: Stamford Ware. Made at several different sites in Stamford in Lincolnshire between AD850 and 1150. The earliest pots were small, simple jars with white, buff or grey fabric, or large jars with painted red stripes. By AD1000, the potters were making vessels which were quite thin-walled and smooth, with a yellow or pale green glaze on the outside, the first glazed pots in England. These were usually jugs with handles and a spout, but other sorts of vessel, such as candle-sticks, bowls and water-bottles are also known. It appears to have been much sought after because it was of such good quality, and has been found all over Britain and Ireland.
SHC: Early Medieval Shelly Ware: AD1100-1400. Hard fabric with plentiful fossil shell mixed in with the clay. Manufactured at many sites in western Bedfordshire. Mostly cooking pots, but bowls and occasionally jugs also known.
HG: Hertfordshire Greyware, Late 12th – 14th century. Hard, grey sandy pottery found at sites all over Hertfordshire. Made at a number of different places, with the most recent and best-preserved evidence being from Hitchin. Range of simple jars, bowls and jugs.
LB: Lyveden ‘B’ Ware. Made at Lyveden and Stanion in Northamptonshire between AD1225 and 1400. The clay used for this pottery is very easy to recognise has it contains small, egg-shaped grainschalky known as Ooliths. The earlier pots are quite crude, as the potters did not thrown them on a wheel, but built them by coiling. The clay fabric is usually grey with buff or orange surfaces. The main types of pot are jugs with a poor-quality green glaze, and vertical stripes and dots painted with white clay. Around AD1300, the potters changed to wheel-throwing their pots, resulting in better-quality vessels, but stopped decorating them with slip designs.
PT: Potterspury Ware. c. AD1250-1600. Made at Potterspury in Northamptonshire. Fine, slightly sandy ware, usually buff or red in colour. Often found with patches of green glaze. A large number of kilns have been excavated in the village over the years, and have shown that the potters produced a wide range of different pots, although jars, bowls and jugs were the commonest types.
MP: Midland Purple ware. Made and used between AD1400-1600. Very hard, red to dark purplish-grey in colour, usually with a dark purple to black glaze. Wide range of different pots made such as jars, bowls and jugs.
TG: ‘Tudor Green’ ware. 1380 – 1600. Fine white pottery, usually with a bright green glaze on the inner or both surfaces. Made at a number of sites in Surrey and Hampshire. Usually specialist drinking pottery such as lobed bowls or cups/
LMR: Late Medieval Reduced Ware. 1400 – 1550. Hard grey pottery with sand visible in the clay body. Dark green glazes, wide range of everyday vessel types.
LMOx: Late Medieval Oxidized Ware: Hard, red pottery with lots of sand mixed in with the clay. Made from about 1400 – 1500 in lots of different sites in the south-east midlands and western East Anglia. Used for everyday pottery such as jugs and large bowls, and also large pots (‘cisterns’) for brewing beer.
CIST: Cistercian Ware: Made between AD1475 and 1700. So-called because it was first found during the excavation of Cistercian monasteries, but not made by monks. The pots are very thin and hard, with the clay fabric is usually brick red or purple, and the pots covered with a dark brown- or purplish-black glaze on both surfaces. The main type of pot was small drinking cups with up to six handles, known as ‘tygs’. They were sometimes decorated with painted dots and other designs in yellow clay. Cistercian ware was very popular, and is found all over England.
GRE: Glazed Red Earthenwares: Just about everywhere in Britain began to make and use this type of pottery from about AD1550 onwards, and it was still being made in the 19th century. The clay fabric is usually very smooth, and a brick red colour. Lots of different types of pots were made, particularly very large bowls, cooking pots and cauldrons. Almost all of them have shiny, good-quality orange or green glaze on the inner surface, and sometimes on the outside as well. From about AD1680, black glaze was also used.
MB: Midland Blackware. AD1550 – 1700. Similar to GRE, but has a black glaze on one or both surfaces. Vessels usually tall cups, jugs and bowls.
TGE:Delft ware. The first white-glazed pottery to be made in Britain. Called Delft ware because of the fame of the potteries at Delft in Holland, which were amongst the first to make it. Soft, cream coloured fabric with a thick white glaze, often with painted designs in blue, purple and yellow. First made in Britain in Norwich around AD1600, and continued in use until the 19th century. The 17th century pots were expensive table wares such as dishes or bowls, but by the 19th century, better types of pottery was being made, and it was considered very cheap and the main types of pot were such as chamber pots and ointment jars.
SS: Staffordshire Slipware. Made between about AD1640 and 1750. This was the first pottery to be made in moulds in Britain since Roman times. The clay fabric is usually a pale buff colour, and the main product was flat dishes and plates, but cups were also made. These are usually decorated with thin brown stripes and a yellow glaze, or yellow stripes and a brown glaze.
SMW: Staffordshire Manganese Ware, late 17th – 18th century. Made from a fine, buff-coloured clay, with the pots usually covered with a mottled purple and brown glaze, which was coloured by the addition of powdered manganese. A wide range of different types of pots were made, but mugs and chamber pots are particularly common.
EST: English Stoneware: Very hard, grey fabric with white and/or brown surfaces. First made in Britain at the end of the 17th century, became very common in the 18th and 19th century, particularly for mineral water or ink bottles and beer jars.
IGW: Iron-Glazed Earthenware, late 17th – 19th century. Made from a fine red clay, with the pots usually covered with a purplish-black glaze coloured with iron. Mainly large bowls.
CP: Chinese Porcelain. Very hard, thin and light white pottery, usually with blue painted decoration. First imported from China around AD1650, and still is nowadays.
VIC: ‘Victorian’. A wide range of different types of pottery, particularly the cups, plates and bowls with blue decoration which are still used today. First made around AD1800.
Results
Test Pit 1
SHC / LB / HG / LMOx / VICTP / Cntxt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / DateRange
1 / 2 / 1 / 6 / 1 / 8 / 1 / 3 / 1100-1900
1 / 3 / 3 / 6 / 2 / 12 / 3 / 5 / 1100-1550
1 / 4 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 5 / 1100-1550
The pottery from this test-pit shows that there was activity at the site throughout the medieval period. It then seems to have been abandoned until the Victorian era.
Test Pit 2
SHC / PT / LMOx / GRE / SS / SMW / EST / VICTP / Cntxt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / DateRange
2 / 1 / 2 / 10 / 1 / 9 / 20 / 71 / 1 / 9 / 3 / 3 / 1100-1900
2 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 18 / 74 / 1 / 5 / 13 / 56 / 1100-1900
2 / 3 / 1 / 5 / 23 / 131 / 18 / 31 / 1100-1900
2 / 4 / 1 / 3 / 16 / 66 / 15 / 15 / 1400-1900
2 / 5 / 1 / 54 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 12 / 1400-1900
2 / 6 / 1 / 2 / 1800-1900
The pottery from this test-pit shows that the site was occupied throughout the medieval period. It then seems to have had a largely marginal use, possibly as fields, from the 16th – 18th century, before being occupied again in the Victorian era.
Test Pit 3
SHC / LMR / LMOx / CIST / GRE / SMW / IGW / VICTP / Cntxt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / DateRange
3 / 1 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 7 / 30 / 66 / 1100-1900
3 / 2 / 4 / 11 / 1 / 3 / 50 / 70 / 1400-1900
3 / 3 / 5 / 38 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 53 / 35 / 52 / 1400-1900
3 / 4 / 9 / 69 / 2 / 87 / 39 / 89 / 1400-1900
3 / 5 / 2 / 36 / 2 / 18 / 1 / 3 / 4 / 23 / 23 / 35 / 1400-1900
The pottery from this test-pit shows that the site was occupied during the late medieval period. It then seems to have had a largely marginal use, possibly as fields, from the 16th – 18th century, before being occupied again in the Victorian era.
Test Pit 4
LMR / LMOx / GRE / EST / IGW / VICTP / Cntxt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / DateRange
4 / 1 / 2 / 9 / 2 / 4 / 1 / 14 / 62 / 117 / 1400-1900
4 / 2 / 4 / 28 / 1 / 40 / 51 / 72 / 1400-1900
4 / 3 / 2 / 27 / 1 / 20 / 51 / 79 / 1400-1900
4 / 4 / 15 / 88 / 19 / 19 / 1400-1900
4 / 5 / 4 / 38 / 1 / 18 / 4 / 4 / 1400-1900
The pottery from this test-pit shows that the site was occupied during the late medieval period. It then seems to have had a largely marginal use, possibly as fields, from the 16th – 18th century, before being occupied again in the Victorian era.
Test Pit 5
SHC / LMOx / EST / IGW / VICTP / Cntxt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / DateRange
5 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 5 / 6 / 1680-1900
5 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 44 / 8 / 19 / 1400-1900
5 / 4 / 2 / 3 / 5 / 14 / 1100-1550
5 / 5 / 4 / 95 / 1400-1550
5 / 6 / 1 / 5 / 1400-1550
The pottery from this test-pit shows that the site was occupied during the late medieval period, after which time it then had a largely marginal use.
Test Pit 6
STAM / SHC / LMOx / GRE / IGW / VICTP / Cntxt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / DateRange
6 / 1 / 7 / 22 / 17 / 32 / 1400-1900
6 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 6 / 1 / 9 / 2 / 22 / 44 / 87 / 1100-1900
6 / 3 / 3 / 17 / 1 / 6 / 24 / 29 / 1400-1900
6 / 4 / 1 / 3 / 4 / 14 / 1 / 27 / 40 / 74 / 1000-1900
The pottery from this test-pit shows that the site had a marginal use in the early medieval period, then was occupied during the late medieval period, after which time it once again had a largely marginal use until the 19th century, when it was finally occupied.
Test Pit 7
SHC / LMOx / MP / GRE / MB / SS / IGW / VICTP / Cntxt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / DateRange
7 / 1 / 16 / 36 / 1800-1900
7 / 2 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 3 / 3 / 33 / 104 / 220 / 1100-1900
7 / 3 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 7 / 92 / 202 / 1400-1900
7 / 4 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 50 / 40 / 151 / 1580-1900
7 / 5 / 1 / 6 / 2 / 18 / 1 / 16 / 32 / 75 / 1550-1900
The pottery from this test-pit shows that the site had a marginal from the early medieval period until the 19th century, when it then occupied.
Test Pit 8
SHC / LMR / LMOx / MB / TGE / SMW / IGW / VICTP / Cntxt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / DateRange
8 / 1 / 1 / 9 / 9 / 104 / 1 / 3 / 21 / 204 / 1400-1900
8 / 2 / 4 / 107 / 1800-1900
8 / 3 / 1 / 9 / 5 / 33 / 9 / 387 / 54 / 903 / 1400-1900
8 / 4 / 2 / 53 / 14 / 182 / 2 / 8 / 7 / 317 / 65 / 807 / 1400-1900
8 / 5 / 1 / 8 / 10 / 58 / 1 / 6 / 36 / 94 / 1200-1900
The pottery from this test-pit shows that the site had a marginal use in the early medieval period, then was occupied during the late medieval period, after which time it once again had a largely marginal use until the 19th century, when it was finally occupied.
Test Pit 9
HG / LMOx / CP / VICTP / Cntxt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / DateRange
9 / 1 / 1 / 7 / 4 / 17 / 1400-1900
9 / 2 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 3 / 28 / 66 / 1150-1900
9 / 3 / 5 / 6 / 1800-1900
9 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1800-1900
The pottery from this test-pit shows that the site had a marginal use in the medieval period, and was then abandoned until the 19th century, when it was finally occupied.
Test Pit 10
IGW / VICTP / Cntxt / No / Wt / No / Wt / DateRange
10 / 1 / 5 / 187 / 48 / 190 / 1700-1900
10 / 2 / 4 / 54 / 37 / 151 / 1700-1900
10 / 3 / 8 / 585 / 21 / 142 / 1700-1900
10 / 4 / 4 / 83 / 16 / 41 / 1700-1900
The pottery from this test-pit shows that the site was not used by people until relatively recently.
Test Pit 11
E/MS / SHC / HG / PT / TG / LMOx / VICTP / Cntxt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / No / Wt / DateRange
11 / 2 / 5 / 68 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 36 / 2 / 27 / 1100-1900
11 / 3 / 43 / 168 / 3 / 9 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 2 / 5 / 5 / 1100-1900
11 / 4 / 16 / 83 / 1100-1200
11 / 5 / 1 / 7 / 10 / 65 / 450-1200
The pottery from this test-pit shows that the site was used in the early Anglo-Saxon period, but was then abandoned until the early medieval period. People occupied the site throughout the early medieval period, but it then seems to have had a marginal use in the late medieval period, before being abandoned until very recently.