Monument record MDR15114 - Pottery manufacturing site, Narrow Lane, Ticknall

An excavation was carried in a garden off Narrow Lane in 2013 by the Ticknall Archaeological Research Group. A huge amount of pottery and kiln furniture was discovered; enough to suggest the proximity of a kiln, but the actual kiln site itself was not found. A total of 171.6kg of material was recovered from the excavation trench, of which 143.3kg was pottery. Exactly 50% of the pottery recovered was Midland Purple Ware, which is recognised as being made from 1380 to 1600. Some 19% was Brown Glazed Earthenware, made from 1500-1800, and 14% was Midlands Yellow Ware, from 1550-1650. Late earthenware, 1750-1900 (although the dating of this is uncertain), accounted for 12%. A very small quantity of Cistercian and Blackware was found, and may have been manufactured on the site a few decades earlier. The even earlier finds of Coal Measures White Ware and Ticknall Medieval may also be significant in terms of the site's history. There can be little doubt that there is a kiln somewhere in the immediate vicinity given the amount of kiln furniture found. This included numerous clay pads, squeezes, fused pots and recognisable segments of saggers. Given the large amount of Midland Purple Ware, and uncertainty about the dating of the Late earthenware, it is thought that this kiln was operational in the late 16th century. (1)