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: C

Context number: 107

46 body sherds of local Herefordshire silty micaceous Ware Fabric Type HER(Hereford) A3. Medieval cooking pot with silt-stone tempering.

The largest fragment measures: 66.1mm high, 50.1mm width, 5.3mm thick at body / side wall; it weighs 26.4 grams.

The smallest fragment measures: 15.5mm high, 12.0mm width, 5.2mm thick at body / side wall; it weighs 1.2 grams.

The bulk weight of the 46 sherds is 27.6 grams

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Sherd specific details:

Fabric Type: Wheel thrown: Herefordshire silty micaceous Ware Fabric Type HER (Hereford) A3.

Fabric Condition: A hard fabric with inclusions.

Firing Condition:

1. Exterior, core and interior: Mid Brown throughout

2. Exterior: dark-mid brown; core dark grey; interior mid brown

Surface texture:

1. Exterior: slightly roughened - no sooting Interior: uneven and rough with a little patchy limescale.

2. Exterior mooth no sooting; interior slightly rough - no limescale

Condition of sherd. Very good / slightly abraded

Inclusions: Sparse angular and rounded quartz grains (0.4mm) rounded grey (?) micaceous gravel (1-2mm with some up to 4.0mm) sparse angular grey to black coloured grit with infrequent red grit, Sparse soft white limestone.

Glaze: None

Class: Herefordshire silty micaceous Ware Fabric TypeHER (Hereford) A3

Comments: Dr.. Alan Vince - identified this as Herefordshire silty micaceous Ware Fabric A3 and states that this was probably locally produced but no production sites / kilns are known. The fabric has the following distinguishing feature: are the presence of rounded fragments of fine-grained grey sandstones and fragments of rounded quarts (up to 1mm across). The groundmass is silty and micaceous. These features all indicate a source in Herefordshire; the silt micaceous clay is probably the Devonian Marl or Boulder Clay derived from this marl whilst the sandstones and quartz grains are probably derived from the outcrops of Silurian Rock and Old Red Sandstone. At Hereford, this ware first appears in assemblages dating to the later 12th or earlier 13th centuries and is one of the earliest wares found there to be locally produced. No production sites are known, but a source in or close to Hereford is likely.

Other vessels known from this fabric include handmade cooking pots which are straight sided and incompletely oxidised but with brown oxidised surfaces, Tripod pitchers with globular bodies are also known - these have cylindrical or everted rims.

Note: Vince notes that this fabric has sandstone and quartz inclusions which are more common in cooking pots. Only a few grains exceed 1mm. The colour varies with the type of vessel.