Information for record number MWA2967:
Site of Roman pottery kilns 300m east of Church, Wappenbury

Summary An archaeological survey indicated that this was a site of Roman pottery manufacture, with high concentrations of pottery and kiln debris. Some kilns have been excavated. The site lies 200m east of the church at Wappenbury.
What Is It?  
Type: Pottery Kiln, Kiln
Period: Romano-British (43 AD - 409 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Wappenbury
District: Warwick, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 38 69
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)
Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

  
Source Number  

1 A survey indicated a heavy concentration of pottery and kiln debris over an area of 8.3 ha of ploughed field, indicating the presence of pottery kilns. The probable extent of the kiln field has been determined to the north, south and east. To the west the ground is permanent pasture, but pottery and kiln debris was found during excavation of the ditch of the Iron Age fort. A proton magnetometer survey was carried out and this located a number of kilns. Four kilns were excavated. kiln 1 was up draught and had a clay-lined chamber with three pedestals and a firing chamber. kiln 2 was similar to kiln 1 and contained three complete vessels. kilns 3 and 4 were built on a common stoke-hole. From the pottery it would appear that kiln 4 was at least 100 years older than kiln 3. kiln 3 was small and pear-shaped, kiln 4 was very badly damaged. Traces of a light timber 'hut' were also found. This was only partly excavated, but was at least 2.7m wide. The hut was buried under debris from kiln 3, but post-dated kiln 4. Most of the pottery is hard, slightly gritty and of a medium grey colour. Various forms of decoration occur. Coin evidence, typological evidence and a number of archaeomagnetic samples indicated a date range of the first half of the 4th century for kilns 1, 2 and 3 and a date in the first half of the 2nd century for kiln 4. These dates are tentative.
2 During the laying of a drain across a field a little to the east of Wappenbury Church a quantity of 4th century pottery and a bronze armlet were found.
3 Chatwin's finds are in Warwick Museum. The finds from the excavation are in Coventry Museum with a sample group in Warwick Museum.
4 In 1993 whilst digging pole holes for EME plc, six pieces of Roman grey ware pottery known as "Wappenbury Ware" were found. These are jars of varying sizes.
5 Suggestion from Dr Hingley that this site be scheduled. This was probably the second largest pottery industry of Roman Warwickshire after Mancetter/Hartshill. Wappenbury was also the major pottery production centre for south Warwickshire. The product was mainly coarse reduced wares, and the industry was active from the 2nd to the 4th century AD.
6 Identified as part of a production centre, with evidence of 2nd-3rd century pottery production at Ryton-on-Dunsmore and at Bubbenhall.
7 The area previously mapped reflected only that area across which kilns had been recorded by magnetometer survey and excavated. This has been adjusted to reflect the material which was recovered from a ploughed area; "a heavy concentration of pottery and kiln debris scattered over 20 acres of ploughed fields" according to
1.
8 Portable Antiquities Scheme find provenance information: Methods of discovery: Metal detector
9
10 A series of Roman pottery kilns have been recorded from the site in national gazetteers of the monument type. These kilns have been identified as oval clay-lined pits with clay pedestals for kilns 1, 2 and 4 with a single flue and permanent clay lining to the kiln chamber. In these kilns there were three pedestals were recorded as small rectangular clay pedestals. It is unclear if the oven floors where temporary or permanent in these cases. kiln 3 was a squat, pear-shaped, and clay-lined pit below ground level with walls sloping inwards towards the base and also three pedestals which in this case were square; the oven floor in this case was formed of bars pre-formed around branches which were then fired, plastered over and vented. These kilns produced carinated bowls, jars and cooking pots imitating Black Burnished ware possibly during the first half of the 2nd century for kiln 4. kilns 2 and 3 seem to have produced grey storage jars and bowls in various forms, as well imitation Black Burnished disked and bowls, of late 3rd to early 4th century date. Pottery from the kilns is held by the Coventry and Warwickshire Museums.
 
Sources
Source No: 6
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society: Transactions for 1996 Volume 100 (TBAS vol 100)
Author/originator: D. Hooke (ed.)
Date: 1996
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 100
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: TBAS vol 65
Author/originator: Chatwin P B
Date: 1943
Page Number: 126-7
Volume/Sheet: 65
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Wappenbury RB pottery kilns
Author/originator: WM (Hingley, Dr R.)
Date: 1987
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Museum Enquiry Form
Title: WMEF 2741
Author/originator: Wise P J
Date: 1993
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 2741
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Excavation Report
Title: TBAS vol 79
Author/originator: Stanley M and B
Date: 1960
Page Number: 93-108
Volume/Sheet: 79
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Internet Data
Title: Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) Database
Author/originator: British Museum
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 10
Source Type: Internet Data
Title: The Pottery Kilns of Roman Britain
Author/originator: Vivien G Swan & Andrew Peachey
Date: 2014
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 9
Source Type: Monograph
Title: The Pottery Kilns of Roman Britain
Author/originator: Vivien G Swan
Date: 1984
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 46SE10
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1974
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 46SE10
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: Pers. Comm. Giles Carey
Author/originator: G Carey
Date: 2009-2014
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source OS Card Ordnance Survey Record Card. Before the 1970s the Ordnance Survey (OS) were responsible for recording archaeological monuments during mapping exercises. This helped the Ordnance Survey to decide which monuments to publish on maps. During these exercises the details of the monuments were written down on record cards. Copies of some of the cards are kept at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. The responsibility for recording archaeological monuments later passed to the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments. back
source TBAS Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society is a journal produced by the society annually. It contains articles about archaeological field work that has taken place in Birmingham and Warwickshire in previous years. Copies of the journal are kept by the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
source WMEF Warwickshire Museum Enquiry Form. These are forms that are filled in when a person brings an object to Warwickshire Museum to be identified. Amongst the information recorded on the form are details such as a description of the object, where and when it was found, and in some cases a sketch or photographs of it. Copies of the form can be viewed at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
technique Magnetometer Survey A magnetometer survey measures the earth's magnetic field and the effects that structures in the ground may have on it. For example, walls, pits and trenches might display different levels of magnetism than the surrounding ground. These differences can affect the readings taken during the survey. Once the readings have been recorded they are plotted out to produce a plan of features that exist below the ground. See also geophysical survey. back
technique excavation Archaeologists excavate sites so that they can find information and recover archaeological materials before they are destroyed by erosion, construction or changes in land-use.

Depending on how complicated and widespread the archaeological deposits are, excavation can be done by hand or with heavy machinery. Archaeologists may excavate a site in a number of ways; either by open area excavation, by digging a test pit or a trial trench.
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period Iron Age About 800 BC to 43 AD

The Iron Age comes after the Bronze Age and before the Roman period. It is a time when people developed the skills and knowledge to work and use iron, hence the name ‘Iron Age’ which is given to this period. Iron is a much tougher and more durable metal than bronze but it also requires more skill to make objects from it. People continued to use bronze during this period.
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period Roman About 43 AD to 409 AD (the 1st century AD to the 5th century AD)

The Roman period comes after the Iron Age and before the Saxon period.

The Roman period in Britain began in 43 AD when a Roman commander called Aulus Plautius invaded the south coast, near Kent. There were a series of skirmishes with the native Britons, who were defeated. In the months that followed, more Roman troops arrived and slowly moved westwards and northwards.
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monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument HARD * A firm beach or foreshore used for landing and loading of ships and other vessels. In more recent times hards have been reinforced with concrete. back
monument OVEN * A brick, stone or iron receptacle for baking bread or other food in. back
monument KILN * A furnace or oven for burning, baking or drying. Use specific type where known. back
monument FLOOR * A layer of stone, brick or boards, etc, on which people tread. Use broader site type where known. back
monument FLUE * A passageway, duct or pipe use for the conveyance of heat, gasses, smoke or air. back
monument FORT * A permanently occupied position or building designed primarily for defence. back
monument DRAIN * An artificial channel for draining water or carrying it off. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument PIT * A hole or cavity in the ground, either natural or the result of excavation. Use more specific type where known. back
monument PEDESTAL * A concrete, cylindrical pedestal on which a spigot mortar was mounted. The pedestal is often the only evidence for a Spigot Mortar emplacement to survive. back
monument POTTERY KILN * A structure, composed of oven and hovel, used for the firing of pottery ware. back
monument PASTURE * A field covered with herbage for the grazing of livestock. back
monument HUT * A building of basic construction, usually smaller in size than a house and constructed from a variety of materials such as mud, turf, branches, wood, brick, concrete or metal. Use more specific type where known. back
monument WELL * A shaft or pit dug in the ground over a supply of spring-water. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. back
monument MUSEUM * A building, group of buildings or space within a building, where objects of value such as works of art, antiquities, scientific specimens, or other artefacts are housed and displayed. back
monument DITCH * A long and narrow hollow or trench dug in the ground, often used to carry water though it may be dry for much of the year. back
monument SQUARE * An open space or area, usually square in plan, in a town or city, enclosed by residential and/or commercial buildings, frequently containing a garden or laid out with trees. back
FIRING CHAMBER * A protected chamber for investigating the controlled detonation and burning of explosive compounds, typically associated with a protected control room and high speed visual recording facilities. back
monument WALL * An enclosing structure composed of bricks, stones or similar materials, laid in courses. Use specific type where known. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record