Source/Archive record SCH8307 - An Analysis of the Pottery Recovered from Excavations on Land between Brook Street and Raby Road, Neston, Cheshire

Analysis of pottery recovered from excavations on land between Brook Street and Raby Road in 2009. A total of 821 sherds of post medieval pottery were recovered, with a combined weight of 28.678 kilograms and accounting for over 99% of the total pottery assemblage. The bulk of material formed two distinct chrononlogical groups - the earlier group late seventeenth to early eighteenth century and the later group being of late eighteenth and nineteenth century date. The late seventeenth and early eighteenth century group comprised mostly (73%) glazed black wares (bowls, jugs, dishes). Slip wares and mottled wards produced within Buckley, Staffordshire and Prescot accounted for 11% of the assemblage. Additionally, small amounts of locally produced high status pottery were found - yellow wares potentially from Chester and purple-glazed ware from the Midlands. The range of imported wares in this earlier assemblage illustrates trade links with North Devon and international trade with Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The continental imports recovered represent 2.5% of the total pottery assemblage and comprise Germanic Westerwald and Frenchen stone wares, Anglo-Dutch tin-glazed wares, a sherd of Seville type Spanish Olive jar and an un-glazed body sherd from south-west France. This assemblage is comparable to other important seventeenth century regional ports such as Liverpool and Chester, so illustrate Neston's status as an ocean-going port. The nineteenth century group was dominated by locally produced utilitarian earthenware vessels in black and brown glazed ware and slipware fabrics. No exotic imports were noted in this group, indicating that Neston was declining as a trading point after the silting of the River Dee which led to port activities transferring to Parkgate from the mid eighteenth century. A total of 8 sherds of medieval pottery, with a combined weight of 81 grams (representing 1% of total pottery assemblage), were recovered from post medieval contexts, none are considered likely to be from an undisturbed medieval context. Types retrieved include iron-rich sandy fabric which could have been produced at several known kiln sites in Cheshire; red-grey and pink-white gritty wares, thought to be the products of the Ewloe kilns in North Wales and date between the late fourteenth and sixteenth century. A tiny fragment of line impressed, glazed medieval floor tile was also recovered. This assemblage is of significance as it represents the first such material to be recovered from archaeological investigations in Neston and provides evidence of medieval occupation in the vicinity. See SCH8308 (unpublished article) for a synthesis of the archaeological investigations at Brook Street and Raby Road.