A Pottery Kiln Site at Tyler Hill, Near Canterbury

In the early hours of June 1st, 1942, German aircraft dropped five bombs in the woodlands around Tyler Hill. One of these fell near the junction of the old highway and the present modern road at the far end of the village, where the old woodland gives place to more open country. At this spot, shown on Andrew's, Dury's and Herbert's Map of Kent of 1769 as Jerusalem, although no record of any hill-top maze is forthcoming, and on other early maps as Cheesecourt Gate, a woodland track running from Blean to Broad Oak crosses the road junction.

The bomb made a large crater some 30 ft. in diameter, and revealed the presence there of masses of pottery sherds in the highly disturbed soil lying above the London Clay of the district. High level flint drift covers the clay which has proved suitable for the manufacture of pottery from early times. It would appear that the bomb opened up the site of a kiln which made household wares, but the actual kiln has not yet been found.

The masses of sherds, some only partly baked, packed one on another, are doubtless remains of wasters thrown out by the old potters. No over-fired pots have yet been found. The type is characteristic of much that has been excavated at Stonar, and can be provisionally dated as of the late thirteenth century.

From the sherds it would seem that the kiln principally turned out sagging base vessels with flat rims, basins, and tall-necked jugs with fingered bases and wide handles. The jugs were usually partly covered with a greenish glaze. Ornamentation on these consists of bands of incised lines on shoulders and bodies with saw-tooth or wavy scoring between. A finger-made scale pattern is another decorative motive. One example of a very rough bridge spout has been noted. Some of the decorative features on the cooking vessels—fingered rims and raised finger-impressed bands—recall Early Iron Age types.

No grotesque figures have yet been found but in this connection it may be mentioned that there is in the Beaney Museum at Canterbury a grotesque pottery fragment which was found at Tyler Hill.

It is to be hoped that further excavation on this site may be carried out as much work still remains to be done on the study of medieval pottery. What has been done already is mainly due to the exertions of Mrs. Gardiner, J.P., and members of the Canterbury Archaeological Society. [pg58]

Reference to wares of this period may be made to a paper by Mr. Sheppard Frere, "A Medieval Pottery at Ashstead," in Surrey Arch. Collections, XLVII (1941), 58-68.

Report by G. C. Dunning

The pottery from the Tyler Hill kiln-site is a welcome addition to the somewhat scanty material of this period from Kent. The kiln produced the usual range of types, consisting of jugs of at least two main shapes, one tall and slender and the other more squat and ovoid, also cooking-pots, bowls or dishes and pipkins, etc. (Figs. 1-2). The material is fragmentary, but the types may be reconstructed by comparison with pottery from local sites in the Maidstone Museum, drawings of which are included in this report (Fig. 3).

The Tyler Hill pottery belongs to one period and that apparently was a short one, to judge by the selection sent to me for examination. In character it agrees with material from many sites dated late thirteenth century. In particular the parallels quoted from Bungay Castle, dated 1294, and from the kilns at Rye, which are of this period, provide satisfactory evidence. On the whole a date towards the end of the thirteenth century (c. 1275-1300) is indicated for the products of the Tyler Hill kiln.

Jugs

1. Fragments of jug of grey ware with orange red surface. Mottled-green glaze on the body and splashed on the front of the neck. The rim is thick and angular with internal bevel, and on the neck is a prominent angular moulding. The upper end of a broad handle is preserved, with deep thumb-marks at each side. The body has zonal decoration, consisting of rows of closely set scales made by pressing the finger-tip into the surface of the pot and squeezing the clay upwards, separated by incised girth-grooves. The decoration may have extended further towards the base than as shown in the drawing. The base is marked by continuous deep thumb-marks, pressing the edge down to the lowest level. The jug is of tall slender shape, about 19 in. high. In proportions and technical details, such as the form of the base, it is closely similar to a jug 13½ in. high from Upchurch (Fig. 3, 1) which has been used to complete the drawing.

2. Neck of jug of grey ware with thick dark green glaze. The rim is inbent and thickened, with three deep girth-grooves outside. Large pinched-out lip for pouring.

3. Neck of similar jug of grey ware with orange red surface and traces of green glaze. Rim-section similar to No. 2.

4. Neck of jug of grey ware with light orange red surface and thin green glaze. Rim-section similar to above, with offset on the neck.

[fg]jpg|Fig. 1. Medieval pottery from Tyler Hill near Canterbury. (¼.)|Image[/fg]

[pg60]5. Neck of jug of grey ware with light red surface and trace of green glaze. Rim bevelled inside, with three deep girth-grooves outside.

6. Rim of jug of fine grey ware with buff surface. It has a small bridge-spout of characteristic late thirteenth century type. Along the side edges of the spout and vertically down the front are rows of notches made by a tool, probably in imitation of the stitched seams of the familiar leather "black jack".

7. Neck of small jug of grey ware with light red surface. The rim is thin and rounded, and the handle is roughly square in section.

8. Neck of jug of grey ware. Rim outbent and bevelled inside, and prominent rounded moulding on neck. Broad strap-handle with stab-marks on underside. The jug is of a type different from those described above. It was shorter with a more ovoid body, probably similar to a jug from Maidstone (Fig. 3, 2).

9. Neck of jug of grey ware with light red surface and splash of green glaze on upper part of body. Rim outbent and bevelled inside with small internal beading. Rounded moulding on neck above three deep incised girth-grooves. Upper part of body decorated with incised wavy lines and girth-grooves, probably continued in zones down the body as on the Maidstone jug (Fig. 3, 2).

Cooking-Pots

10. Rim of cooking-pot of grey ware. Rim outbent and bevelled inside with row of stab-marks passing through to outside. Decorated with row of finger-tip impressions above the shoulder. Part of another pot with similar rim-section also has finger-tip marks in the same position. Decoration of this kind on the sides of cooking-pots is less usual than finger-printing on clay strips applied to the surface. Sherds with similar decoration were found at Bungay Castle[fn1], but their position on the pots could not be determined. The complete form of the Tyler Hill cooking-pots is given by a vessel found at Maidstone (Fig. 3, 3).

11. Rim of large cooking-pot of light orange red ware. Rim heavily flanged, bevelled inside with internal beading and row of stab-marks on upper surface.

12. Rim of cooking-pot of grey ware. Rim flanged and undercut, with thin internal beading and stab-marks.

13. Rim of cooking-pot of grey ware. Rim outbent and outer margin deeply serrated by tool-cuts.

14. Rim of cooking-pot of grey ware. Rim thin with sloping outer edge.

15. Rim of cooking-pot of buff ware. Section similar to No. 14, but less angular.

[fg]jpg|Fig. 2. Medieval pottery from Tyler Hill, near Canterbury. (¼.)|Image[/fg]

[pg62]16. Elbow handle of light red ware. Another example probably belongs to a rather smaller vessel. Similar handles are known from several sites, and were attached on opposite sides of the rims of cooking-pots, as restored in the drawing.[fn2] They were made in imitation of metal cauldrons with angular handles and standing on three tall legs, which in the later medieval period largely replaced pottery vessels for cooking purposes.[fn3]

Bowls

17. Deep bowl of grey ware with light red surface. Broad flanged rim with internal beading and stab-marks on upper surface. Decorated with two rows of closely set finger-tip marks round the side. Analogous decoration is not common on bowls, but a close parallel was found at Bungay Castle.[fn4] Similar bowls with flanged rims have been found at Maidstone (Figs. 3, 4-5), but the strap-handles attached to the rim on No. 4 do not appear to be present at Tyler Hill.

18. Rim of large bowl of orange red ware. Broad flanged rim with small internal beading. The flange has two rows of stab-marks and another row is along the inside wall of the pot.

19. Shallow bowl of grey ware with light red surface. Dark green glaze covers the inside of the sagging base and is splashed up the side. Rim thickened with sloping outer edge and internal beading.

Two pieces of sagging base from different pots almost certainly belong to bowls. Both have a row of deep finger-tip marks along the base angle. One fragment has dark green glaze on the inside as on No. 19.

Butter-Pot (?)

20. Cylindrical vessel of orange red ware. Rim beaded with internal bevel, and rounded cordon or collar 1½ in. below rim. A very similar pot was found on the kiln-site at Rye[fn5] and is described as a butter-pot; the complete form of these vessels is not known.

Pipkin

Pipkins are represented by fragments which include a handle of grey ware with light red surface; it is grooved down the front and the end is folded back as usual on this type. A complete example, provided with three tall legs, was found at Rye,[fn6] and the general development of the type is sketched in Archaeologia, LXXXVIII, 221.

[fg]jpg|Fig. 3. Kentish medieval pottery. 1. Upchurch; 2-5. Maidstone. (¼.)|Image[/fg]

[pg64]Comparative Pottery

In order to show the complete shapes of the main types made at the Tyler Hill kiln, some pots in the Maidstone Museum are here illustrated (Fig. 3). No. 1, found at Upchurch, is a good example of the tall slender jug, typical of the thirteenth century and well represented, for instance, in London.[fn7] Nos. 2-5 illustrate the more squat type of jug also common in the thirteenth century, and the cooking-pots and bowls in domestic use. These were found in laying the foundations of the Bently Wing of Maidstone Museum in 1889. The conditions of finding the pottery are not known, but all the pots are of about the same date and most likely they formed a group in a pit. The Bently Wing pottery was probably made locally, as a very considerable amount of medieval pottery was found in 1921 in circumstances suggesting a kiln-site in Week Street, Maidstone, only 150 yards distant from the earlier find.

1. Jug of grey ware, surface grey on neck and light red above base. Light green glaze on neck and handle. Tall slender shape with base thumbed down at edge. Rim thickly moulded. Handle round in section, stab-marked down sides. Decorated below rim and on upper part of body with bands of narrow girth-grooves.

2. Jug of grey ware, roughish grey surface with buff tones. Squat ovoid shape with plain sagging base. Rim flat with slight moulding below. Strap-handle grooved down back and decorated with sloping tool-cuts. Body of jug decorated with sharply incised wavy lines.

3. Cooking-pot of grey ware, roughish grey surface with buff tones. Rim broad and flanged. Wide sagging base.

4. Bowl of grey ware with buff-grey surface. Thick flanged rim with internal bevel. On opposite sides of the rim are attached vertical strap-handles, both with stab-marks down the middle. Bowls with handles of this type are unusual, but examples have been found at Sandon, Essex, and at Cambridge.

5. Deep bowl of grey ware, light grey surface with buff tones. Rim broad and flanged with internal beading.

[fn]1|Proc. Suffolk Inst. of Arch., XXII, 336.[/fn]

[fn]2|Cf. London Museum Medieval Catalogue (1940), p. 224, fig. 74.[/fn]

[fn]3|Ibid., p. 205, pl. LVI.[/fn]

[fn]4|Proc. Suffolk Inst. of Arch., XXII, 336, fig. 10.[/fn]

[fn]5|Sussex Arch. Coll., LXXIV, 69, pl. XI, 1.[/fn]

[fn]6|Ibid., LXXVII, 117, fig. 3, 5.[/fn]

[fn]7|London Museum Medieval Catalogue, p. 212.[/fn]