VESSEL

Eardisland History and Heritage Group

Eardisland Excavation 2000-2010

Site Summary: Finds were made during the excavation of a mound in the grounds adjacent to the dwelling: Burton Court Eardisland. The trench in which the majority of artefacts were found measured 5 metres by 3 metres. The stratified assemblage of pottery is of regional importance being especially well preserved and evidence for a domestic non-castle medieval site dating from the twelfth to early thirteenth centuries (1100-1250)

Site number: BC 01

Sector: A

Context number: 103

2 abraded base sherds of Worcester Ware Fabric Type HER (Hereford) C1. from hand made cooking pots.

The sherds measure:

1. 27.8mm length, 34.9mm width, 7.8mm thick across the base and 9.0mm across the side wall; it weighs 10.3 grams.

2. 40.4mm length, 39.2mm width, 5.1mm thick across the base; it weighs 10.2 grams.

The sherds weigh: 20.5 grams

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Sherd specific details:

Fabric Type: Worcerster Ware fabric HER (Hereford) C1.

Fabric Condition: A fine hard fabric with inclusions

Firing Condition: Exterior and interior dark buff to light brown core darkening to black in places

Surface texture: interior and exterior very smooth.

Condition of sherd. excellent - unabraded - sooted - from cooking

Inclusions: Abundant small well sorted rounded white quartz grains average size 0.8mm - 1.0 mm, sparse white mica, occasional angular quartz grains (1.0mm). A small quantity of rounded sandstone grains is also present often over 1mm and occasionally up to 4.0mm.

Glaze: None

Class: Worcerster Ware fabric HER (Hereford) C1.

Comments: Dr. Alan Vince - identified this as Worcester Ware fabric HER (Hereford) C1. and states that this was probably locally produced at Worcester in the 12th - 14th centuries. From the beginning of the 13th century the potters at this production site began to use the potters wheel and also began to use glaze, even on cooking pots. No wheel-thrown or glazed examples were discovered within the samples sent in two batches from the investigations at Burton Court (C1 fabric = 27 and 82 sherds). All of teh sherds submitted are likely to be of cooking pots and many have both sooting on the outside of the vessel and off-light limescale on the interior. indicating their use in boiling water. Fourteen of the sherds were rims, all of an everted form with an inturned lip and some of the rims had rounded profiles whilst others with flat top. There is no known chronological difference between the two types. Some of these vessels were quite small, in the order of 200mm diameter, whereas others are similar in size to the Malvern Chase fabric vessels. Some of these maybe of early - mid 12th century in date and all are likely to date to the 12th rather than the 13th century.

Vessels of this fabric include handmade / formed cooking pots with club rims and sagging bases. The everted rim cooking pots were hand formed vessels with roughly cylindrical bodies. The rims have flat tops or are thickened and the bases are also sagged. Most vessels seem to have been smoothed on a turn table but some may have been wheelthrown.

Documentary and archaeological evidence suggests that this ware was produced at Worcester from the early 12th to 13th centuries. In Hereford, it is much more common in the 12th rather than the 13th centuries.

Note: Vince notes that the most common inclusion within this fabric is white quartz mainly measuring between 0.1-0.4mm across but can occur up to 1.2mm.