Pottery Finds in Local Garden

Pottery finds in a local garden

Over a number of years, Ruth and Derek Taylor unearthed the pottery fragments shown above. They were found in various places in the garden of their home in Castle Close. The land was once part of the outer bailey of Tickhill Castle where there may have been a range of mainly wooden and wattle and daub structures and possibly midden pits. Owing to her experience as an archaeologist, Ruth recognised most of the pottery fragments as being of medieval origin. At some later time, the land probably became an orchard before being developed for housing on the current site.

On 30 January 2020 Ruth took the fragments to a Finds Surgery arranged by the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) at Woodlands Community Library. Staff took the fragments to record and identify them. The plan to return them to Ruth by May was halted by the advent of the pandemic and she is still waiting for their return. However, Ruth has been sent some information about her finds.

PAS staff have photographed, measured and weighed each fragment and dated the majority to between AD 1150 and 1500. Most of the fragments have inclusions probably of quartz and black iron ore with some grog and most are glazed, the colours ranging from dark green through yellow brown to dark brown. Ruth believes it is possible that some of the fragments might have been produced by the medieval pottery in Hallgate, Doncaster. Descriptions of three pieces follow:

In the bottom left-hand corner of the above photograph, the fragment, 79.9mm long, 44.2mm wide and 24.8m thick, is part of a jug handle with a fluted outer surface, probably made by the potter with his finger or thumb, then decorated with a green glaze. It weighs 64.5g.
The fragment in the top left-hand corner is part of the base of a small pot with a diameter of about 80mm. The dark red pottery has a glossy black glaze on the inner face with a trickle decorating the outer face. The pot’s wall is 4mm thick and is on an angle of 45 degrees to the base. It is 38mm wide, 29.6mm tall and weighs 15g. This pottery is probably Wrenthorpe Ware, made in Wrenthorpe near Wakefield and could be dated from AD 1500-1700. (This style of pottery was formerly known as Cistercian ware because it was found at major Cistercian abbeys in Yorkshire.)
Between the above two fragments, to the right, is an unglazed fragment. The pottery is hard and dark pink throughout with frequent rounded inclusions, probably sand. This rim sherd is angled outwards at about 60 degrees from the vertical. The rim, whose diameter would have been about 90mm, has a square top but is thickened on the outer face with a concave band. It weighs 6.7g, is 8.5mm thick and 26mm high.

If you find any pottery sherds this publication might be of initial interest: ‘A beginner’s guide to what to look for: identifying pottery’ by David Weldrake at website <wyjs.org.uk/media/1295/beginner-guide-to-pottery-pdf>

Another local find

What would present-day archaeologists make of this report in the ‘Wakefield and West Riding Herald’ on Saturday, 1 September 1883? ‘An interesting discovery of human remains has recently been made by a farmer named Gledhill of the Three Houses Inn, Tickhill (probably the Three Crowns Inn on Northgate). As he was ploughing a field called All Hallows his plough came into contact with a large stone slab, upon the removal of which the remains of a human male skeleton were discovered, quite perfect, who had been buried without a coffin. On exposure to the atmosphere, nearly all the bones crumbled away except the skull. The osseous remains were at a depth of only two feet six inches. The spot where they were found is not without historical interest…. there stood near this place a sacred edifice called All Hallows Church. About half a mile distant are the ruins of Tickhill Castle of which very little traces are left. Hundreds of people called at Gledhill’s hostelry to view the skull, which on one of these occasions fell by accident to the ground and being very fragile was smashed. Most of the fragments are now amongst Dr Crowther’s collection.’