KENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY  -- RESEARCH   Studying and sharing Kent's past      Homepage


The Roman Pottery of Kent
by Dr Richard J. Pollard  -  Chapter 4  page 63
Doctoral thesis completed in 1982, published 1988

Britain (Fulford 1981). This reform broadly coincides with the foundation of a considerable number of villas in Kent and elsewhere, and with the development of civic building in Canterbury (Wacher 1975; Blockley and Day forthcoming). These processes provided conditions beneficial to the expansion of trade in the province, through which pottery industries such as those producing fine grey and painted wares in north Kent were able to spring up. These developments also coincided with the decline in importation of Gallo-Belgic wares in the early Flavian period (see above), and the demise of the Lyon and Central Gaulish glazed ware concerns. It is possible that the trade in Gallo-Belgic wares slackened as a direct result of the expansion of Romano-British industries, but the dating evidence from Kent suggests that the local fine grey industries emerged some little time after the waning of the Gallo-Belgic trade. This emergence coincided, or was soon followed by, a marked fall in samian importation in the last two decades of the first century. The conventional dating of most of the various industries in and around London to a foundation c. A.D. 80—90 suggests that these were enterprises which from the outset sought to exploit what must have been something of a vacuum in the market for fine pottery. The pre-existing(?) fine ware industries undoubtedly also reaped the benefits of such a situation. It is interesting to note, however, that few of the fine wares produced in the south-east in this period faithfully copied samian ware: the basic South Gaulish forms were widely copied, or, debatably, used as prototypes, particularly forms Drag. 18/31, 27, 30 and 37. Red wares are uncommon relative to reduced wares amongst the fine wares used in Kent, and the London industries do not seem to have produced red wares at all (see above). This phenomenon is in marked contrast with the situation in the later third and fourth centuries, when a wide range of potteries large and small turned out red wares of general similarity to the samian forms of the late second 

and early third centuries (see below); it is difficult to escape the conclusion that by the end of the Flavian period red fine wares had not made the impact upon the consumer that is later so strongly in evidence.
   The flagons of the Flavian-Trajanic period have been partially described above. In addition to fine oxidised and white-slipped fabrics, a variety of buff and white wares occur, the later including fabrics with a greenish tinge suggestive of a clay source in the Gault stratum that lies at the foot of the North Downs escarpment in Kent and Surrey. The Otford pottery was probably in operation in the early/mid Flavian period, producing vessels in ‘red clay, changing even in the same vessel to yellow or brown’ (Pearce 1930, 161; nos. 102—106 here). Unfortunately, this pottery appears to have been lost subsequent to excavation. The significance of the Otford concern is discussed below (6.VI.1). The Canterbury, Brockley Hill and London industries also produced flagons, the last-named in mica-dusted ware (Marsh 1978, Types 1—4). Between them Canterbury and Brockley Hill distributed their products throughout Kent (Fig. 22), although the small numbers of these wares in the Medway valley area in comparison with the greater quantities found in east and west Kent, respectively, suggests that direct competition between the two was on a small scale; the oxidised and white-slipped wares suspected of being produced on the Upchurch Marshes were probably the major supplier to the Medway valley area. The forms of this period include globular vessels with ring-necks (no. 73 here), ‘pulley-rims’ (no. 77), and pinched-spout jugs (no. 74). The disc-rim flagon (cf. no. 36) appears to be confined to the first century, but the dating evidence is not entirely clear on this point. The flagon formed an intimate part of pottery production at both Canterbury and Brockley Hill, and was one of the most widely-distributed forms of these industries (see below, and Pollard 1983a, 351—83).

Page 63

Page 62      Back to Chapter 4    Contents Page         Page 64

For details about the advantages of membership of the Kent Archaeological Society   click here

Back to Publications On-line               Back to Research Page            Back to Homepage                 

Kent Archaeological Society is a registered charity number 223382
© Kent Archaeological Society 2004

This website is constructed by enthusiastic amateurs. Any errors noticed by other researchers will be to gratefully received so that we can amend our pages to give as accurate a record as possible. Please send details too research@kentarchaeology.org.uk