Monument record MDR11655 - Pottery works (site of), Standley's Barn, White Hollows, Ticknall

Standley's Barn is believed to be the site of a pottery works in the 17th century, although no pottery has been found here, the farmhouse has been rebuilt and the farmyard concreted over. Francis Standley, a husbandman, died in 1638, leaving his son John to have the lease of the house when he was out of apprenticeship. John had evidently been apprentices to a pot maker. The inventory made on his death in 1667 is a good example of a well-off farming potter. The farmhouse was a six-roomed dwelling, with parlour, 'house', dairy, small parlour, and two upstairs chambers. There was also a potting house containing a pot wheel, two grates, various items of equipment and 'pots fired and unfired'. Wills and inventories show that his son and grandson were also potters, but possibly not on the same site. (1) A resistivity survey of Hen Coop Close and a series of test pits in the Hen Coop and in the Garden adjacent to the farmhouse were carried out by Ticknall Archaeological Research Group during 2012. The aim of the investigation was to identify the site of a pottery kiln thought to have existed at Standley's Barn Farm through previous documentary research. The test pits confirmed that it was indeed the site of a pottery, with vast amounts of pottery wasters and kiln furniture found. Some 72kg of assorted pottery was recovered, all of which appears to have been redeposited from original dumps for use as protection for land drains and other features and for filling and levelling of the land. A square meter of large cobbled stones with a small hearth in the Hen Coop remains a largely enigmatic feature in relation to its purpose. As a proven pottery production site, Standley's Barn Farm forms part of Ticknall's important post-medieval pottery industry. (2)