Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T18:17:29.725Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

SITUATION VACANT: POTTER REQUIRED IN THE NEWLY FOUNDED LATE SAXON BURH OF NEWARK-ON-TRENT, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2019

Gareth J Perry
Gareth J Perry*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of York, King’s Manor, York, Y01 7EP, UK. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The potters’ wheel was reintroduced to England in the late ninth century. It spread rapidly throughout eastern England, yet little is known about the mechanisms that facilitated its dissemination and success. This article presents the results of multidisciplinary research into the diffusion of this technology. Focusing on pottery production in late Saxon Newark, Nottinghamshire, an industry thought to have been founded by a potter(s) who had relocated from Torksey, Lincolnshire, this study offers a rare opportunity to examine the movements and craft practices of an individual artisan(s). By considering their manufacturing choices in the context of pottery distribution networks and the contemporary political, social and economic climate, it is demonstrated that the supply of pottery to Newark from regional production centres was restricted, creating a gap in the market and providing an incentive for a potter to relocate, encouraging the spread of the potters’ wheel throughout eastern England.

Type
Research paper
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 99 , September 2019 , pp. 33 - 61
Copyright
© The Society of Antiquaries of London, 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbott, C, Alvey, B, Kinsley, G, Vince, A and Young, J 2005. ‘Pottery from a watching brief at Kirkgate Co-Op, Newark’, unpublished draft report, Trent and Peak Archaeological Unit, NottinghamGoogle Scholar
Arthur, B V and Jope, E M 1962–3. ‘Early Saxon pottery kilns at Purwell Farm, Cassington, Oxfordshire’, Medieval Archaeol, 6–7, 1–14 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashby, S 2011. ‘A study in regionality: hair combs and bone/antler craft in north-east England c AD 800–1100’, in Petts, D, and Turner, S (eds), Early Medieval Northumbria: kingdoms and communities, AD 450–1100, 303–20, Turnhout, Brepols CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashby, S 2013. ‘Making a good comb; mercantile identity in 9th to 11th-century England’, in Hadley, D M, and Ten Harkel, L (eds), Everyday Life in Viking Age Towns: social approaches to towns in England and Ireland, c 800–1100, 193–208, Oxbow, Oxford CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Attenborough, F L 1922. The Laws of the Earliest English Kings, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Google Scholar
Barley, M 1956. Documents Relating to the Manor and Soke of Newark-on-Trent, Thoroton Soc Rec Ser vol. xvi, Thoroton Society, Nottingham.Google Scholar
Barley, M 1961. ‘Excavation of the Borough ditch, Slaughterhouse Lane, Newark, 1961’, Trans Thoroton Soc Nottinghamshire, 65, 10–18 Google Scholar
Barley, M 1964. ‘The medieval borough of Torksey: excavations 1960–2’, Antiq J, 44 (2), 165–87 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barley, M 1981. ‘The medieval borough of Torksey: excavations 1963–8’, Antiq J, 61 (2), 264–91 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barley, M and Waters, F 1953–6. ‘Newark Castle excavations: excavations 1953–6’, Trans Thoroton Soc Nottinghamshire, 60, 20–33 Google Scholar
Blinkhorn, P 2013. ‘No pots please, we’re Vikings: pottery in the southern Danelaw, 850–1000’, in Hadley, D M, and Ten Harkel, L (eds), Everyday Life in Viking Age Towns: social approaches to towns in England and Ireland, c 800–1100, 157–71, Oxbow, Oxford CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blunt, C Stewart, B Lyon, C 1989. Coinage in Tenth-Century England: from Edward the Elder to Edgar’s reform, Oxford University Press, Oxford Google Scholar
Coupland, F, Marshal, P and Samuels, J 1994. Newark Castle Studies: excavations 1994, Newark Castle Trust, Newark Google Scholar
Dallas, C 1993. Excavations in Thetford by B K Davison between 1964 and 1970, East Anglian Archaeol 62, East Anglian Archaeology and Oxbow Books, Oxford Google Scholar
Doley, M and Blunt, C E 1967. ‘A parcel of reform-type pence of Edgar and his successors’, Brit Numis J, 36, 55–8 Google Scholar
Dunning, G 1959. ‘IV: pottery of the late Anglo-Saxon period on England’, in Dunning, G, Hurst, J, Myres, J and Tischler, F, ‘Anglo-Saxon pottery: a symposium’, Medieval Archaeol, 3, 1–78 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Everson, P and Stocker, D 1999. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture: vol 5, Oxford University Press, Oxford Google Scholar
Everson, P and Stocker, D 2015. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture: vol XII, Oxford University Press, Oxford Google Scholar
Hadley, D 2000. The Northern Danelaw: its social structure, c 800–1100, Leicester University Press, London Google Scholar
Hinton, D 1990. Archaeology, Economy and Society: England from the fifth to the fifteenth century, Seaby, London CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard, A S, Warrington, G, Carney, J N, Ambrose, K A, Young, S R, Pharoah, T C and Cheney, C S 2009. Geology of the Nottingham District, British Geological Survey, Keyworth Google Scholar
Hurst, J 1976. ‘The pottery’, in Wilson, D (ed), The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England, 283–348, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Google Scholar
Kilmurry, K 1980. The Pottery Industry of Stamford, Lincs c AD 850–1250, Brit Archaeol Rep Brit Ser 84, Oxford Google Scholar
Kinsley, G 1993. ‘Excavations on the Saxo-Norman town defences at Slaughter House Lane, Newark-On-Trent, Nottinghamshire’, Trans Thoroton Soc Nottinghamshire, 97, 14–63 Google Scholar
Leah, M 1994. The Late Saxon and Medieval Pottery Industry of Grimston, Norfolk: Excavations 1962–92, East Anglian Archaeol 64, East Anglian Archaeology and Oxbow Books, Oxford Google Scholar
Mainman, A 1990. Anglo-Scandinavian Pottery from Coppergate, The Archaeology of York 16/5, Society of Antiquaries for the York Archaeological Trust, London Google Scholar
Marshall, P and Samuels, J 1994. ‘Recent excavations at Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire’, Trans Thoroton Soc Nottinghamshire, 98, 49–57 Google Scholar
Marshall, P and Samuels, J 1997. Guardian of the Trent; the story of Newark Castle, Newark Castle Trust, Newark Google Scholar
McLeod, S 2014. The Beginning of Scandinavian Settlement in England, Brepols, Turnhout CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mepham, L and Brown, L 2007. ‘The Broughton to Timsbury pipeline, part 1: a late Saxon pottery kiln and the production centre at Michelmersh, Hampshire’, Proc Hampshire Field Club and Archaeol Soc, 62, 35–68 Google Scholar
Metcalf, D 1998. An Atlas of Anglo-Saxon and Norman Coin Finds c 973–1086, R Numis Soc and Ashmolean Mus RNS Spec Publ no. 32, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Google Scholar
Miles, P, Young, J and Wacher, J 1989. A Late Saxon Kiln Site at Silver Street Lincoln, Archaeol Lincoln 17/3, CBA, London Google Scholar
Morris, J 1986. Domesday Book, Lincolnshire, Part 1, Phillimore, Chichester Google Scholar
Musty, J 1974. ‘Medieval pottery kilns’, in Evison, V, Hodges, H, and Hurst, J (eds), Medieval Pottery from Excavations: studies presented to Gerald Clough Dunning, 41–66, John Baker, London Google Scholar
Perry, G 2016. ‘Pottery production in Anglo-Scandinavian Torksey (Lincolnshire): reconstructing and contextualising the chaîne opératoire’, Medieval Archaeol, 60 (1), 72–114 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, A 2002. Later Anglo-Saxon England: life and landscape, Tempus, Gloucestershire Google Scholar
Rice, P 2005. Pottery Analysis: a sourcebook, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago Google Scholar
Rowe, E 2008. ‘Land to the north of the railway, Torksey, Lincolnshire: archaeological evaluation report 08/401’, unpublished report for Pre-Construct ArchaeologyGoogle Scholar
Rye, O 1981. Pottery Technology: principles and reconstruction, Taraxacum, Washington Google Scholar
Sawyer, P 1977. ‘Kings and merchants’, in Sawyer, P, and Wood, I (eds), Early Medieval Kingship, 139–58, University of Leeds, Leeds Google Scholar
Sawyer, P 1998. Anglo-Saxon Lincolnshire, History of Lincolnshire Committee, Lincolnshire Google Scholar
Smedley, N and Owles, E J 1963. ‘Some Suffolk kilns: iv. Saxon kilns in Cox Lane, Ipswich, 1961’, Proc Suffolk Inst Archaeol, 29, 304–35Google Scholar
Stewart, I 1988. ‘English coinage from Athelstan to Edgar’, Brit Numis Soc, 148, 192–214 Google Scholar
Symonds, L A 2003a. Landscape and Social Practice: the production and consumption of pottery in 10th-century Lincolnshire, BAR Brit Ser 345, John and Erica Hedges Ltd, Oxford Google Scholar
Symonds, L A 2003b. ‘Territories in transition: the construction of boundaries in Anglo-Scandinavian Lincolnshire’, in Griffiths, D, Reynolds, A, and Semple, S (eds), Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 12: boundaries in early Medieval Britain, 28–37, University School of Archaeology, Oxford Google Scholar
Todd, M 1974. ‘Excavations on the medieval defences of Newark, 1972’, Trans Thoroton Soc Nottinghamshire, 78, 27–53 Google Scholar
Todd, M 1977. ‘Excavations on the medieval defences of Newark, 1976’, Trans Thoroton Soc Nottinghamshire, 81, 41–54 Google Scholar
Vince, A 1993. ‘Forms, functions and manufacturing techniques of late 9th and 10th century wheel-thrown pottery in England and their origins’, in Piton, D (ed), Travoux de Groupe de Recherches et D’études sur la Céramique dans le Nord-Pas-De-Calais, 151–64, Numéro hors-série de Nord-Ouest Archéologie, France Google Scholar
Vince, A 2006. ‘Torksey ware reviewed from the north’, Alan Vince Archaeological Consultancy Report 2006/44, ⟨http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-1000-1/dissemination/pdf/AVAC_reports/2006/avac2006044.pdf⟩ (accessed 26 Feb 2019)Google Scholar
Young, J 1992. ‘The pottery from NC92’, unpublished report, Newark Castle Trust, NottinghamshireGoogle Scholar
Young, J 1993. ‘The pottery from NC93’, unpublished report, Newark Castle Trust, NottinghamshireGoogle Scholar
Young, J 1994. ‘The pottery from NC94’, unpublished report, Newark Castle Trust, NottinghamshireGoogle Scholar
Young, J and Vince, A 2009. ‘The Anglo-Saxon pottery’, in Evans, D, and Lovelock, C (eds), Life and Economy at Early Medieval Flixborough, c AD 600–1000, 239–401, Oxbow Books, Oxford Google Scholar
Young, J, Vince, A and Nailor, V 2005. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Pottery from Lincoln, Oxbow Books, Oxford Google Scholar
Waters, C N 1992. Geology of the Balderton District, British Geological Survey Technical Report WA/92/02, British Geological Survey, Keyworth Google Scholar
White, H 2012. ‘The problem of provenancing English post-medieval slipwares: a chemical and petrographic approach’, Post-Medieval Archaeol, 46, 56–69 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitelock, D 1955. English Historical Documents c 500–1042, Eyre and Spottiswoode, London Google Scholar