Untitled - Council for British Archaeology

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MUSEUM RESEARCH PROJECT
BRICK AND POTTERY MANUFACTURE
Inyestigation of the post-medieval pottery and brick industry'
of Oxfordshire has continued. Detailed work on maps, directories,-
census returns, wills and other sources by Sarah Gosling, Dan
Chadwick, Christine Bloxham, Nancy Stebbing and John Rhodes has
restilted in a considerable increase in the numbe'r of brickworks:
identified within Oxfordshire. A new county gazetteer based on this
work is being co-ordinated by James 'Bond. Some idea of the-progress
now achieved can be obtained from the following figurei:-
Cherwell
DISTRICTS 1 COUNTY
Oxford S.Oxon Vale W. H. W.,Oxon TOTAL
No of brickworks
known July 1978
17 19 4 17 60
No of brickworks
known Jan. 1980
36 9 42(a) 28(a) 24(a) 139(a)
15(b)- 17(b) 11(b) , 43(h)
(a) = exact location known.
(b) = locations uncertain. ,
The pottery aspect of the project was intended primarily as an,attempt
to identify local kilns and their products in the post-medieval
period. The kilns at Leafield and Nettlebed, operating until the
early,20th century, were alreadyknown about, though a good deal
of documentary and other evidence for their functioning has been
collected, and other centres have been identified at Banbury, Baiford
St. Michael and Stoke ROW. Field and documentary work at -Marsh Baidon,
where pottery manufacture had ceased by the mid-17th century, Inta.S
also been carried out by Maureen Mellor of the,Oxfordshire Archaeological
Unit. Wares potentially from some of these sites are being drawn and
analysed to establish a local type and fabric series for post-medieval
wares. The work on pottery is being prepared for publication,in,
mid-1980, together with a companion booklet on the brick and tile
industries of the county, to coincide with an exhibition on
the Oxfordshire clay industries at the County Museum in July and
August of this year.
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