Find Spot record MDR4725 - Roman Pottery and Tiles, The Knoll, Vicarage Lane, Duffield

During the autumn of 1931 a large number of pottery fragments were turned up in the garden of The Knoll, Duffield, by the gardener. Along with the potsherds were several broken tiles. The material was sent to the British Museum for identification. The tiles proved to be Roman, but the bulk of the pottery was medieval, of 12th or 13th century date, with only a few sherds being Roman. The latter consisted of small pieces of several different kinds of ware, mostly being of a soft dark grey colour, with others being almost white. (1) During the years c. 1930-32 a quantity of Roman pottery was unearthed in the garden at the Knoll and in the surrounding area. The predominating pottery type has two main characteristics, an internal flange for a lid and a somewhat unusual texture - smooth but gritty and of a medieval rather than Roman appearance. The type is commonest near Derby, for example at Little Chester and is sparsely but widely distributed over northern England, but is rare south of Derby. Elsewhere, this type has come from deposits dated to the first half of the 4th century. (2) Pottery identified as Derbyshire Ware, which has continued to turn up since 1931 in different parts of the town. Some pieces seem assignable to the latter part of the 3rd century, while the dating of the rest is uncertain. (3)