Monument record 1916/1 - Upper Brereton Park Farm Kilns

<1> County Historic Environment Record, 1973-1985, Cheshire Archaeological Bulletin, No.9, p.73, Rutter J A, 1983 (Journal/Periodical). SCH565.

Upper Brereton Park Farm kilns. Fieldwalking in 1984 revealed a large collection of post-Roman pottery. Bulk of the finds date to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with some seventeenth century fragments. Also there were seventy fragments of medieval pottery, which showed signs of firing disasters during manufacture. A high proportion of jug sherds also showed a varied amount of decoration, which suggest a thirteenth century date.
(Two kilns have been excavated from 1984 onwards, of which only the base of the single flue type kilns remain. Finds include jugs, some with animal masks, coarse ware and wasters, all of which are probably thirteenth century in date.)

<2> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Turner RC (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

Archaeomagnetic dating has been carried out by A Clark, but the results appear to be anomalous. A geophysical survey has been carried out by A Aspinall. All the finds remain with the site owner.

<3> JA Story & Partners, 1985, 1985 Story & Partners Survey, 19/03/2015 (Aerial Photograph). SCH2993.

Grid reference updated from SJ 505 635. New NGR, based on location of kiln excavation visible on 1985 aerial photographs.

<4> P.J. Cox, C. Drabble, D.Forster, C. Hargreaves, 2016, The Waterless Brook Project: The History and Archaeology of a Cheshire Estate. Interim Report 2016: Medieval Kiln Site 1, R4833 (Report). SCH9769.

Interim report produced for investigation and archaeological evaluation of the kiln sites at Upper Brereton Park. Investigation of the site included study of cartographic sources, LiDAR imaging, air photographs, documentary sources and geophysical survey, undertaken during 2014, prior to the excavations. The purpose of the excavation was to re-open the Kiln 1 trench, originally excavated in 1984 by Janet Rutter of the Grosvenor Museum with the help of local volunteers, to establish the extent of the kiln area, also to define the form and construction of the kiln and any ancilliary buildings. During the 2015 season, a small section of the outer kiln wall was found in situ, allowing for reconstruction of the dimensions of the kiln. Also the remains of an earlier kiln were found beneath Kiln 1 (Kiln 1a); as the pottery was the same as Kiln 1, both kilns were thought to be contemporary. Pottery forms recovered included jars, jugs, skillets and bowls with a wide range of glazes and zoomorphic spouts. Analysis of the pottery assemblage undertaken by J.Axeworthy. It is probable that the date of the kiln was AD1260 - AD1290, based on type and form of the pottery recovered from the kiln.

<5> Border Heritage and Archaeology Group, 2022, Upper Brereton Park Farm Medieval Pottery Kiln Site. Report 2, R4723 (Client Report). SCH9493.

Further report from Border Heritage and Archaeology Group (BHAG) for the archaeological evaluation and post excavation analysis which occurred over six seasons between 2014-2019, on the Kiln 1 site.

Excavation of Trench 1 revealed Kiln 1 to be an oval structure, measuring 3.06m by 2.78m wide and defined by an outer bank still standing between 0.21m to 0.31m high. Beneath the northern extent of Kiln 1, two additional, smaller kilns (Kiln 1A/Kiln 1B) were recorded. The evidence suggests that there was a progression from smaller kilns to the larger Kiln 1 as the need for pottery vessels increased, probably post circa 1250. Trench 2 investigated the area to the south and west of the kiln structures to identify possible associated structures/features. Cut into the boulder clay was a number of potential post holes and fragments of wooden planking suggestive of a structure. Also recorded were two pits containing pottery wasters and a third pit (Pit B) which contained processed clay ready for pot production.

The excavations recovered a large number of pottery sherds, in particular from context 043, which covered the entire kiln site and surrounding area, forming a spread of some 5m by 7m. It is thought that the pottery originated from a pile of wasters which was then spread over the area once the kiln became redundant. A total of 2945 fragments (46.3kg) of pottery were recovered from context 043. There was another spread of kiln wasters to the south-west of Trench 1 lying on top of the boulder clay. The majority of the sherds retrieved were vessel body sherds, with large numbers of rims, bases, handles and frilled spouts, including 10 zoomorphic rams head spouts.

The northern edge of the kiln site was buried under a bank, thrown up from a ditch, defining the boundary of Brereton Park, dating circa 1420 AD. The archaeological investigations, pottery analysis and the historical evidence suggest the period of the kiln’s use at Brereton Park was during Faulke Orreby’s tenure, between c1250 – c1261 and that there may have been a 100 plus years gap between the end of the kilns productive life and the emparkment of the estate.