KINCM 1994.483-5, PO242 – A63, EAST YORKSHIRE

 

CERAMIC BUILDING MATERIALS

 

S Garside-Neville

 

Roofing Material

The sample has several pieces of pantile, which dates from the 17th century onwards, though the glazed examples may begin at a later date.  There are examples of plain roofing tile, the method of suspension is unknown.  There is one fragment of hip tile which would have covered the corners of a roof.  This and the plain roofing probably date to the medieval period, from the 13th century onwards.

 

Bricks

The dating of the bricks is problematical.  The two examples from 2003 are convincingly medieval in date -  the indentations on the top surface are characteristic of the period.  The measurements are larger than that of material from York, however, examination of literature for the Beverley/Hull area indicate that these measurements are probably within the range for that period.  The fragments are very abraded, and are a pale pink in colour, which may indicate under-firing.  They could be examples of 'sammel' bricks, which would not have been used for the exposed face of a wall.

 

The other bricks are more difficult to date.   The saddleback coping or capping brick from Trench 2 u/s would have been used to finish the top of a wall.  The corners of the brick are missing so that it is impossible to tell whether it is a coping brick, the edges of which would have projected beyond the wall thus throwing rain water away from the body of the wall, or a capping brick which would not have had the same effect.   This is a 'special', so that its thickness cannot indicate the date.  The complete example from 2001 is overfired, so its measurements are likely to be distorted, particularly the thickness.  It is however, very long (260mm) which again a characteristic of medieval bricks in the Hull/Beverley area, so it is possibly medieval.   The brick fragment from 2009 has a very similar fabric to the saddleback coping/capping brick from Trench 2 u/s.  The combined measurements of 112mm width and 61mm thickness (ie. relatively narrow and thick) probably indicates a later date, perhaps from the 16th century onwards.   The brick from 2007 is slightly broader and narrower in thickness than 2009, but is too borderline to advance a guess at the date.

 

The walls and gates would have needed maintenance over the years, so that the probable later bricks could well have been used in the defences.  None of the bricks match the measurements of the bricks in the town walls that are dated to the late 14th or early 15th century, but the defences took nearly a century to build, so that the brick products could easily have varied in size over time.

 

LISTING

 

1994.483: Trench 2

 

Context           Form                                                                           Date

 

u/s                    Plain Pantile, Plain roofing, Capping/

                        Coping brick                                                                17th+

 

2001                Brick                                                                            ?medieval

 

2003                Brick                                                                            14th-15th

 

2007                Brick                                                                            ?16th

 

2009                Brick, Plain roofing                                                       14th+

 

 

1994.484: Trench 3

 

Context           Form                                                                           Date

 

u/s                    Glazed Pantile, Plain Pantile, Plain

                        roofing                                                                          17th+

 

1994.485: Trench 4

 

u/s                    Plain roofing, Hip tile                                                     13th-15th

 

 

SGN/11-3-1995