Barcombe and Hamsey

Special Projects: North End Barn, Hamsey H185

On Good Friday 2004 a small group of MSFAT members carried out an excavation at North End Barn, Hamsey. The owner had found a large quantity of Medieval pottery, and we wanted to try and establish the context that it had originated from.

The pottery appeared to come from a bank which had been cut away, so the first objective was to excavate part of the bank to see if we could see any features. Cleaning the section and excavating down from the top of the bank showed us that the pottery had probably come from a pit (approx 1m in diameter) cut into the natural.

Although the relationship had gone due to the truncation of the top part of the pit, it was probably cut down from a layer that represented the original Medieval land surface. This layer produced huge quantities of Medieval pottery, and at one end of our trench there was a layer of flints that may have been the remnant of a floor or metalled surface. Also cut into the section was another pit or ditch (see photo), although this was not excavated.

On the map of 1752 (ref: MOB1699) there are buildings immediately north east of the present farm buildings in the ownership of Dr. Russell. They are described as: House & field at North End. Could the pottery be associated with this site? (See Tenement analysis P125/1).

The Pottery

by Luke Barber

Introduction
The excavations at the site produced a relatively large assemblage of pottery: 1,186 sherds weighing 18,690g from 5 different contexts. The material spans the mid 13th to 19th centuries though by far the majority is of mid 13th- to early 14th- date. The post-medieval sherds are either unstratified or, occasionally intrusive in medieval contexts. The post-medieval assemblage can be divided into two periods: the 16th to 17th centuries (seven sherds weighing 65g) and the 18th to 19th centuries (nine sherds weighing 252g). Details of the post-medieval material is housed with the archive and the current reports concentrates solely on the medieval assemblage. The condition of the assemblage is generally good. Sherd size is usually quite large with the average medieval sherd weighing 15.7g. The freshness of the breaks suggests the material has not been subject to redeposition. The majority of the medieval pottery was recovered from a 'midden' layer (Context 2) located directly below the topsoil. This one deposit accounted for 823 sherds weighing just under 13kg.

The main aims of the pottery analysis was to characterise the assemblage, help with the dating of the excavated deposits where possible and show the range of fabrics and forms present. The latter is considered of importance due to the dominance of Ringmer wares in the assemblage, as these have mainly been studied from production rather than consumer sites in the area.

Discussion
During the period of the excavated deposits the site was obviously acquiring virtually all of its ceramics from the Ringmer industry, despite having easy access to the market in Lewes where one may expect a more varied choice was available. The lack of other regional and imported wares strongly suggest the site, if not specialized in some way, to be one of low social status. This is confirmed by the general lack of jugs and presence of probable 'seconds' from the Ringmer industry.

References
Barber, L. forthcoming. 'The Pottery' in C. Butler 'Excavations at North End Barn, Hamsey, East Sussex'
Hadfield, J. 1981. 'The Excavation of a Medieval Kiln at Barnett's Mead, Ringmer, East Sussex'
Sussex Arch. Coll. 119, 89-106.
Streeten, A. date? Unpublished PhD Medieval and Later Ceramic Production and Distribution in South-East England.

Members of MSFAT excavating at North End Barn

Some examples of the pottery found at North End Barn

Special Projects: North End Barn, Hamsey H185

The Pottery

Archaeology

Test-pits

Historical Environments Records