Existing comment:
A Remarkable Collection 1670-1700
Who discarded refuse into this ditch and why may never be known. The ditch was full or artifacts dating to about 1670-1700, including 10 "HH" wine bottle seals, over 1,000 clay pipe pieces, three window leads dated 1669, and the largest collection of English Sgraffito slipware pottery from North Devon ever discovered. There were nine intact dishes, complete pans and bowls. The most impressive find from this location was an entire earthenware baking oven shattered into over 220 fragments. The oven used heated stones to bake breads and meats.
Perhaps members of the Henry Hartwell household who lived nearby dumped a damaged shipment of pottery or unwanted household items here, at the edge of their property.
" . . . the ditch had served, apparently, as a dump for broken dishes and other refuse from a nearby house. It yielded enormous quantities of wine bottles, ceramic vessels, Delft tiles, and innumerable types of utensils and tools."
-- J. C. Harrington, ca. 1940 |