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: 107

Seven unabraded rim sherds of Worcester Ware Fabric Type HER (Hereford) C1. from hand made cooking pots.

The fragment measures.:

1: 46.1mm in height, 61.4mm width, 14.0mm thick at rim 5.5mm thick at body; it weighs 41.8 grams.

The external diameter of the rim is 17 cm representing 11% of the total circumference.

2: 30.9mm in height, 39.5mm width, 16.1mm thick at rim 7.2mm thick at body; it weighs 21.6 grams.

The external diameter of the rim is 18 cm representing 6.5% of the total circumference.

Bulk weight: 195.3 grams

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Sherd specific details:

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

Fabric Condition: A fine hard friable fabric with inclusions

Firing Condition:

1. Black exterior - core dark grey - interior dark grey

2. Greyish brown throughout

Surface texture:

1. interior slightly rough and exterior smooth and sooted.

2. exterior and interior smooth - no sooting

Condition of sherd. 1. Excellent 2. Good

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

Glaze: None

Class: Worcerster Ware fabricHER (Hereford) C1.

Rim Type: 1.Flat topped everted rim 2. Round topped everted rim

Rim Diameter:

3. The external diameter of the rim is 26 cm representing 9% of the total circumference.

4. The external diameter of the rim is 25 cm representing 8% of the total circumference.

5. The external diameter of the rim is 24 cm representing 6.5% of the total circumference.

6. The external diameter of the rim is 25 cm representing 5% of the total circumference.

7. The external diameter of the rim is 17 cm representing 6% of the total circumference.

Comments: Dr. Alan Vince - identified this as Worcester Ware fabricHER (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 wheelthrown 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.