Selected projects
4.19.24 A mortaria kiln at Dairy Farm, Ellingham, Norfolk
In 1996 a Roman pottery kiln was discovered at Ellingham just up-slope from the edge of the flood plain to the north of the River Waveney. The kiln was located c 10m away from the site of another kiln excavated in 1976; no other Roman sites are known nearby. Trenching to replace a water pipe revealed, and damaged, the fired clay walls of a kiln chamber and flue and because of its position, close to the farmyard and immediately next to a grain storage building, it was considered quite likely that the kiln would be further adversely affected by agricultural activity. As the impending destruction of the kiln was not covered under the provisions of PPG-16, English Heritage agreed to fund excavation and recording. A small area around the kiln was stripped of topsoil but, apart from the edge of a pit and some ploughmarks, no other archaeological features were observed.
The kiln excavated in 1976 contained numerous sherds of mortaria, some with potters stamps, both within its fills and incorporated into its structure. The quantity and condition of the mortaria recovered suggested that the material was made at the site. A total of 1560 sherds of Romano-British pottery weighing 45.948kg was recovered from the recently excavated kiln, almost all of it from the kiln and stokehole. It included 647 mortaria sherds, weighing 35.382kg. As in the first kiln the material came both from the fills of the kiln and stokehole, and from within the fired clay walls of the kiln chamber and flue, the central pedestal and vented solid floor. The floor of the lower furnace chamber and flue were also lined with fired clay.
 |
Stamped mortaria rims were recovered from 38 individual vessels, while there were 212 unstamped vessels. With one or two exceptions, the same makers stamps were identified from the new kiln as had been seen previously. These included the stamps of Regalis, Lunaucis, and a herringbone stamp, all showing links with the pottery industry at Colchester. Regalis is thought to have moved from Colchester to work at Ellingham between AD 170-190. A trademark stamp might relate to the West Stow pottery tradition. Additionally, on a sherd from the fill of the stokehole of the recently excavated kiln, a new stamp, Nivalis, unknown from any other site, was identified.
 |
The discovery of the new kiln has increased knowledge about the scale of mortaria production at Ellingham. Not only has it shown the existence of a second kiln but it also strongly suggests that at least one further mortaria kiln must have existed at the site since, although it is still possible that the material from one of the two kilns was made in the other, it is clear that the pottery from at least one of the excavated kilns must have been fired in another kiln.
Charcoal and other plant remains from the residues from the new kiln have been analysed for the purpose of the identification of fuels. The material indicates the use of wood, mainly oak and alder, and possibly of cereal remains and other herbaceous material. The paucity of the latter two suggests that combustion occurred in a well aerated chamber. The quite limited range of woody taxa might suggest the use of specific fuels for particular firing techniques but seems more likely to reflect local environmental conditions. Samples from the kiln wall, pedestal, and floor of the fire chamber were removed for archaeomagnetic dating, which revealed date ranges of AD 160-225 or AD 270-300, the former supporting the suggested date for Regalis having worked at the site.