2007 PROJECT SELECTION

K Village, Kendal, Cumbria: Pottery Assessment

North Pennines Archaeology carried out an excavation at K-Village, Riverside Place, Kendal, and commissioned Greenlane Archaeology to assess the pottery recovered. The excavation, and an earlier evaluation by Oxford Archaeology North, had revealed that tanning had taken place on the site, and tanning pits were among the many features identified. The aims of the pottery assessment included establishing dates as accurately as possible for the different phases of activity known to have taken place.

Slipware, mottledware, and brown-glazed red earthenware

Painted creamware and pearlware

Tin-glazed earthenware

Industrial slipware

The assemblage included a small quantity of medieval pottery, but was dominated by pottery of post-medieval date. Examples of some of the types of wares are shown in the photographs above.

The assessment concluded that all the medieval pottery fragments were residual, and that the earliest phase of activity was the filling in of plough furrows on the site, which may date to the 17th century. The next phase of activity dateable by the pottery was the backfilling of all but the largest tanning pits, and the filling of a possible rubbish pit, dating to the 18th to early 19th century. The build up of made ground and garden soil then occurred in the early 19th century, closely followed by the backfilling of large tanning pits at around the same time.