THE OLD VICARAGE, BENTHALL, BROSELEY,
SALOP. By JOHN
SANDON
Report of an archaeological investigation of the site, January 1978.
The Old Vicarage,
Benthall, is situated just outside Broseley in Shropshire. The site is owned by
Mr. & Mrs. Cragg and occupies two acres with a large brick house dating from
about 1660 with later additions. North of the house is a slope leading down to a
filled-in disused coal mine ventilation shaft of the early 20th century. To the
south is a brick stable, probably the same age as the house, a lean-to shed
attached to the stable, and a brick-built pigsty now used as a shed. These
buildings form a division between the main back garden and a flat circular area
bounded on the south side by a mixed hedge raised about 2 metres above a cow
field belonging to a neighbouring property. (see fig. 1).
The house was
mentioned in the 1851 census as Coppice House, Benthall and was occupied by Mr.
Jones, a "Potter" employing several hands. It was used as a Vicarage
in the late 19th century and hence received its present name.
About 100 yards south
of the aforementioned hedge during the 18th century were open-cast coalworkings
known as the Deerleap. A wooden railway is recorded as having extended from the
Deerleap to the main road through the Vicarage grounds.
Mr. Cragg recalls
that up until about 15 years ago the flat area by the stable, known as the
Drying Patch, was mounded up with an old bath, other bulky refuse, and material
associated with early ceramics. These comprised a large quantity of saggars from
a saltglaze kiln of c.1720, mostly imperfect, and pieces of saltglazed brickwork
which were originally part of a kiln. However, all except a few complete saggars
and one section of saltglazed bricks were dumped during the early 1960s to fill
in the disused mine-shaft which had become unsafe. Other similar saggars had
been used on part of the site just outside of the kitchen to support an earth
bank which had been damaging a 19th century lean-to shed.
Considerable
alteration to the site during recent years has resulted in many slopes and dips
being repositioned. This makes it very difficult to determine the position of
any demolished buildings. However, Mr. Cragg kept any pieces of ceramics
uncovered during work on various parts of the site. It is impossible to say
accurately the location each piece came from, except that all were from the
site. These fragments, to be detailed later, give further evidence of salt-glaze
and leadglaze manufacture, during the early 18th century, of types not normally
associated with potteries in Shropshire, but typical of Staffordshire.
There is still much
to be learnt about pottery making during this period, and so an archaeological
excavation on the site was planned for early in 1978, in the hope of locating a
kiln.
Henry and John
Sandon, assisted by David Sandon, arrived at the Old Vicarage on December 31st,
1977 and after extensive examination of the locations decided the flat area
known as the Drying Patch (fig. 1) would be the most likely place for a kiln to
have stood, besides the fact that the saggars had been found there. If the
circular area represented a kiln base it was felt a box would be best situated
on the outer part of the Drying Patch just inside the south hedge, 200 cm.
north/south by 150 cm. east/west. This we referred to as Box 1.
The topsoil was 10
cm. and contained very mixed dumps of recent ash and rubble, but also a few
salt-glazed shards from the early 18th century, including wasters. This was
termed level 1.
Below this was a wide
deposit of dark soil representing general household refuse and deposits of
Victorian and later dates. In the upper part of this level 2 were found a
section of a salt-glaze saggar and other 18th century shards. Along with these
were Victorian and 20th century pottery and glass bottles plus metal fragments,
in considerable quantity. At about 50 cm. the Victorian remains died out and
only 18th century fragments were found. All pieces were fragments and showed no
signs of kiln imperfections.
At 64 cm. a fragment
of flat unglazed high-fired earthenware was found with an incised name ? Clowlon
and date 1 Octob.. . It is very similar in paste and colour to lead-glazed mugs
found on other parts of the site. It is probably a potter's tool. At a similar
depth was also found several unglazed shards possibly wasters, intended for
glazing. One was clearly an unglazed fragment of a mug with turned banding
exactly matching the mugs with brown lead glaze found throughout the site.
At 70 cm. a change of
level was discovered; a compact earth floor of a lighter colour. On cleaning, a
pit was found to be dug through the floor in the north east corner of the box.
The pit contained a large quantity of clay roof tiles and a meat-paste
container. The finds dated the pit to mid Victorian. At its deepest the pit
reached 104 cm. from the surface.
The earth floor was a
very compact layer of clayey soil containing rubble, cinders and pieces of early
18th century pottery. However, the floor was only a thin top shell lying on
natural clay which was undisturbed. The clay was found at a depth of about 74
cm. and was white pipeclay stained brown with iron, containing varied sizes of
pebbles. Box 1 showed no further prospects and after measuring was backfilled. A
section is drawn as fig. 9.
The following day a
further examination of the entire site was made with the help of Malcolm Nixon
who is experienced on kiln excavation and structure. Again it was felt that the
Drying Patch was the most likely site for a kiln.
Simeon Shaw in his
"History of the Staffordshire Potteries" (1829), when debating the
possibility of the Elers brothers making salt-glaze described the kiln said to
have been used by the Elers at Bradwell in Staffordshire as being about 5 feet
inside diameter, while salt-glaze kilns in Burslem were ten to twelve feet. He
wrote ... "salt-glazed pottery of that time was comparatively cheap; and
the oven, being fired only once a week, required to be large, to hold a quantity
sufficient to cover contingent expenses. Hence we find the ovens were large, and
high, and had holes in the domes, to receive the salt cast in to effect the
glazing".
Box 1 had already ruled out a large kiln on the Drying Patch but a small kiln of say 6 or 8 feet in diameter could still have stood there. It was decided a trench nearer to the stable buildings might locate the foundations of a small kiln.
On Monday January 2nd
1978, John Sandon, Malcolm Nixon and David Sandon marked out a trench
running NE/SW, 420 cm. long and 50 cm. wide. The thin turf lay directly on a
dark ash and soil similar to the upper levels of Box 1. This represented a
Victorian and early 20th century refuse dump probably associated with the house.
It contained various glass bottles, metal tins and broken pottery, including
several pieces of "Salopian Art Pottery" made nearby in Benthall c.
1900, and Coalport china from just over the river.
The dark rubbish
level reached a depth of about 80 cm. before giving out to a pure ash level
composed of grey ash and cinders with pieces of potter's tools and kiln
furniture. They were of a type associated with the later 19th century. At
between 95 and 100 cm„ the natural undisturbed clay was once more discovered
ruling out the Drying Patch as the location for a kiln. The trench was back
filled. A section is drawn as fig. 10. The kiln furniture probably represented
the period when the house was used by Mr. Jones, c. 1850s.
The failure to find
any brickwork or traces of kiln structure indicated that the Drying Patch could
never have been the location of a kiln. Therefore a further examination of the
area was made to try and find a stratified undisturbed deposit of early 18th
century material to help determine what ceramic use the site had been put to.
Just outside of the
kitchen window above the lean-to previously mentioned is a mound bearing an oak
tree and seeming to have been built up artificially. The tree appears to be at
least 200 years old. A gentle probe under the surface produced a quantity of
early salt-glaze wasters and so a small box was prepared.
The top 15 cm. was a very dark ash soil containing fragments of the salt-glazed saggars, pieces of "white-dipped" salt-glazed mugs and salt-glazed wasters, all c. 1700 - 1720. But this was only a surface dumping and lay on a thin level of brown soil containing household deposits of pottery and bones of the later 18th century. At only 25 cm. natural clay was again encountered. The salt-glazed level must represent a surface deposit of soil from another part of the site. Once more, after measuring, the box (Box 2) was filled in.
Box 3 was dug five
metres south of Box 2, on a slightly sloping bank raised by a brick wall outside
the back door of the house. Below the turf was a dark brown soil which gave on
directly to the undisturbed natural clay, at a depth of 20 cm. Both Boxes 2 and
3 were 150 cm. by 100 cm,
No other parts of the
site indicated from the surface that they might hide undisturbed levels of 18th
century occupation, and so no further trial boxes were attempted.
The only method which might be used to locate the kiln is a resistivity
test of the ground using electrical equipment, and a test to be carried out,
perhaps later in the year.
The only material
which can be used to indicate what sort of pottery was made on the site are the
saggars and the shards found by Mr. Cragg on unrecorded parts of the site.
There are three main
types of ceramics found in quantity on the site, buff-coloured earthenware
covered with a brown glaze, slipware fragments with various designs below clear
glazes, and salt-glazed stoneware. Each will be dealt with in turn.
Most abundant are the
brown-glazed wares of which over 400 fragments have been found. Mostly they are
pieces of mugs, cylindrical at the bases and flared at the rims, particularly on
the larger examples. The mugs occur in five different sizes and have slightly
fluted curved handles roughly central on the side of the vessels. Just below the
upper join of the handle are turned ridges arranged in two rows of four or five,
running round the bodies, and each mug has turned ledges at the bases. From the
base sections found it is possible to account for at least 25 different examples
of the mugs. A typical example is drawn in section as fig. 2.
One unusual shape of
which a nearly complete specimen and several shards were found, is an onion
shaped bottle with a short foot and loop handle applied to the shoulder. The
bottle's intended use is uncertain. Like the mugs, the small bottles are
brown-glazed with the thick glaze dribbling to just above the foot (fig. 3.)
Other notable shapes
in brown-glazed ware are a two-handled porringer with widely flaring rim and
three deeply turned grooves level with the upper handle (fig.4.), the base of a
very large bottle or cooking pot (fig. 6.) and a base of a flat or shallow dish
of square shape with rounded sides curved both vertically and horizontally. It
is not possible to predict what form it originally took (fig. 5.).
There is very little
evidence of kiln wastage among the brown-glazed shards found except for one mug
base which has pieces of another not adhering to the inside, but it is not
definitely a waster. The only certain waster is the fragment found in pit 1,
level 2, part of an unglazed mug with the turned bands. From the style of shape
the mugs can be dated to c. 1700 - 1710.
The slipwares
themselves fall into two main types; variously coloured trailed and feathered
designs in so called Staffordshire style, and a distinctive type of wares in
fairly high-fired buff earthenware body, simply trailed in chocolate-brown with
narrow bands and streaks, below a pale yellow-tinted transparent lead glaze. The
first type occurs in very small quantity and in scattered pieces not nearly
complete enough to re-construct. These are probably imported dishes, maybe from
Staffordshire, which were used and broken in the house.
Pieces of the other
slipware type are much more numerous and some pieces are surprisingly complete.
These include the base of a mug very similar in shape, and in a not unalike
body, to the brown-glazed mugs already mentioned. Also a two-handled porringer
related in shape to the brown-glazed one was found with brown streaks below a
yellow glaze. The most impressive of this type was a complete but broken shallow
dish of small size with a "piecrust" rim and parallel streaks of brown
slip. Tests will be carried out on shards of both the brown-glazed and slipware
pieces to see if, as suspected, they originated from the same clay.
The most important of
the ceramic finds relate to salt-glazed stoneware production and from the finds
a clear picture can be obtained.
Salt-glazed wares
developed in Staffordshire in a particular way. The earliest wares were brown
using a clay rich in iron. Various experiments were made to try and introduce
white salt-glaze but the white clay of Burslem was not suitable. It is said the
Elers brother were first to overcome this by dipping their stoneware mugs into
white ball clay imported from Dorset to produce "white-dipped"
stonewares partly banded in brown. This process was introduced, whether by the
Elers or by somebody else, about 1700.
By about 1715 - 1720
a method was discovered by which the local clay could be whitened by adding
crushed calcined flint. This gave the first true white salt-glaze and the
process using calcined flints continued for many decades. Round about 1720 the
rims of finely potted "white-dipped" vessels were dipped in iron which
gave them a brown band around the rim. All pieces of these
"white-dipped" salt-glazed wares are traditionally ascribed to
Staffordshire, and so if the same sort of development can be found in
Shropshire, traditional attributions will have to be re-thought.
At the Old Vicarage
site many fragments of salt-glazed stonewares have been found, a great number
showing signs of being wasters. There are two sorts occurring, brown stonewares
made from clay containing iron, and "white-dipped" wares, both with
large brown iron-coated areas (fig. 8.), and also with simple brown banded rims
(fig. 7.). Some of the fragments have crazed on the surface, a feature common to
Staffordshire wares.
Of the salt-glaze
saggars eight complete examples survive. They are circular drums with straight
sides pierced with four round or slightly oval holes to allow the salt vapour to
contact the pots during the firing. They are each about 38 cm. diameter, 20 to
23 cm. tall and the sides are 2 to 3 cm. thick. The top rims are cut with four
shallow curves to help separate saggars if they became stuck together in the
kiln. Some of the saggars show signs of firecracks which have been patched with
clay before being used again in another firing. Some have distorted and have had
their rims reinforced to allow the next saggar to sit level. All the surviving
saggars are heavily glazed with thick brown salt-glaze (figs. 11 & 12.).
Three of the saggars
contain wasters of mugs stuck to the inside, with five or six bases arranged
round one central one, the centre mug being smaller in size. The mugs are all of
the type drawn as fig. 7. and have brown rims. Identical saggars have been
excavated in Stoke dating from c. 1700 - 1720. The white mugs found inside the
Benthall saggars date these examples to c. 1720.
To sum up, the
ceramic material found on the Old Vicarage site in Benthall indicates local
production of brown lead-glazed wares, yellow slipwares with simple brown
streaking, and salt-glazed stonewares of brown and "white-dipped"
types, all of the period c. 1700 - 1720. The quantity of material on the site,
especially the bulky saggars, is conclusive evidence that the two kilns needed
to fire the lead-glazed and salt-glazed wares were on the site or at least very
near. The excavations in early January 1978 were unable to locate any kiln
foundations but a further visit with resistivity testing equipment is planned.
The wares made during the early 18th century are of types known traditionally as Staffordshire and probably represent a group of potters migrating to the area from Staffordshire, remaining in touch with changes in production methods in Stoke. The site had ample supplies of easily dug clay and coal and, like in Burslem, the clay found on the site is rich in iron and would have produced brown salt-glaze until dipping in white clay was introduced. Very little true white salt-glaze was found and no wasters, and so it is quite likely that the introduction of calcined flint in Stoke, c. 1720, was an innovation not used at Benthall, and probably brought an end to the Benthall works.
Arrangements will be
made to research the Parish and other records to try and find mention of a
pottery on the site, and perhaps further excavation will be carried out later in
the year. A saggar and representative fragments from the site are at present on
exhibition in the Wilkinson Society Museum in Broseley.
References in this
report to salt-glaze production in Stoke have been adapted from
"Staffordshire Salt-glazed Stoneware" by Arnold Mountford which
illustrates many pieces similar to those found at Benthall. I am especially
grateful to Mr. & Mrs. Cragg for their kind co-operation throughout the
excavations and for giving us complete access to the site.
John Sandon