RH96 – RICCALL HALL, NORTH YORKSHIRE
S Garside-Neville
The site
produced a small sample of ceramic building materials comprising brick, tile
and stone building material.
There is one
example of a ridge tile, several fragments of plain tile, and one fragment of
peg tile (which confirms that the plain tile is probably all peg tile). This material is currently difficult to
date, but it is probably not from the 13th or 14th century, and perhaps
dates to somewhere between the 15th and
18th century. As there is no sign of
mechanised manufacture, it is unlikely that the material is 19th or 20th
century.
Stone
building material
There is
one fragment of fine white limestone or chalk.
This has traces of mortar on it so may well have been used in walling,
rather than flooring.
The bulk
of the sample is brick. There are two
distinct groups of manufacture. The
most common has smooth, possibly wire-cut edges and a refined clay fabric. Added to this, the measurements point to a post medieval date. Some of the examples are unevenly fired, so
may have been fired in a clamp kiln.
The other
group (appearing in 1004, and one fragment in 4024) has sanded edges, and a
narrow thickness (42mm or under). This
group could be medieval in date.
Examples from the City of York with these measurements, and sanded
edges, normally date to between the 14th and 15th centuries. This group may also be the ‘wall tiles’
referred to in documents of the period, and may have been used as
brick-infilling in timber-framed buildings.
However, the Riccall group lack indented borders which are common to
medieval brick, so there is a possibility that this group was made at a later
date.
This is a
small sample, but it probably indicates several phases of building on the
site. It is recommended that the sample
is recorded in more detail and pieces selected for retention, so that the
fabrics and forms are available for comparison should further work be carried
out in the area.
Context Form/s Date
1004 Ridge, plain, brick 14th+
4024 Plain, peg, brick 18th+
4043 Brick 18th+
7000 Limestone, brick 18th+
7012 Paver/plain roof 18th+
sgn
12/96