- Deritend ware
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Deritend ware jug and sherds
Deritend ware is a distinctive style of medieval pottery produced in Birmingham, England in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Consisting mainly of jugs and cooking pots, with small quantities of bowls and dripping trays, it is made from orange-coloured clay decorated with lines made of white clay.[1] The style is similar to north French decorative styles of the period around 1300,[2] and there are clear signs that the Deritend ware industry was founded by potters from the London area in the thirteenth century.[3]
Deritend Ware was produced in the Digbeth, Deritend and Bull Ring areas of Birmingham[4] in kilns that were probably located in the back yards of houses.[2] The orange clay is the Mercia Mudstone that underlies this area of Birmingham and would have been obtained locally, while the white clay would have been brought from further afield.[2]
Deritend Ware was first discovered during the widening of High Street, Deritend in 1953, when misfired fragments of pottery were discovered to the south of the main road. Further evidence has since been found at the Old Crown Inn, the Custard Factory and underneath the site of Selfridges in the Bull Ring.[2]
References
- ^ Hodder 2004, pp. 94–95
- ^ a b c d Hodder 2004, p. 95
- ^ Vince 2008, p. 1
- ^ Buteux 2003, pp. 33–35
Bibliography
- Buteux, Simon (2003), Beneath the Bull Ring: The Archaeology of Life and Death in Early Birmingham, Brewin Books, ISBN 1858582423
- Hodder, Michael A. (2004), Birmingham: the hidden history, Tempus, ISBN 0752431358
- Vince, Alan (2008), Characterisation Studies of a Greyware vessel from the Old Crown, Birmingham, Alan Vince Archaeological Consultancy, http://www.avac.uklinux.net/potcat/pdfs/avac2008008.pdf, retrieved 2009-09-20
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