Post-medieval Oxford - Oxford City Council

Archaeological investigations at Rewley Abbey between 1984 and 1994 produced a
total of 623 fragments of clay pipes predominately from the 17th-18th centuries
(Higgins in Munby 2007: 43). Pipe fragments from the 17th century were largely of
the London style although it is impossible to tell if they were produced locally based
on the London style or imported. The later 17th to 18th century assemblage,
however, indicated the emergence of local fabric types from around 1680 onwards.
Previously identified at the Westgate site by Oswald (Hassall 1984), the earliest local
fabric was termed ‘Type B’ (c.1660-1690) and was characterised by a larger and
more sharply curved spur bowl.
The beginning of the 18th century saw a dramatic increase in the variety of forms as
pipe makers began to experiment and a new, more upright cylindrical bowl
dominated the market throughout the 18th century. This is reflected in the Rewley
Abbey assemblage where some 207 fragments of this new type were recorded in a
single feature and deposited within a relatively short period of time (Higgins in Munby
2007: 44). A small assemblage of 58 fragments including five reasonably complete
bowl fragments were recorded at the Chemistry Research Laboratory site at
Mansfield College (Higgins 2005: 172). The earliest evidence dates from the period
1640-1660 and includes typical London styles as well as a local sandy style. No
markings or decorations were recorded in the assemblage.
The assemblage recovered from the Castle precinct investigations 1999-2005
comprised primarily early 18 th century fabrics with some evidence of mid-late 17 th
century types from deposits overlaying the Norman ramparts, perhaps contemporary
with the Civil War, and may indicate re-fortification of the Castle (Higgins 2006: 75).
An additional small assemblage of 104 fragments of clay pipe was recorded from
dumped deposits at later excavations at the Castle mound (Mumford 2008). Here,
the earliest evidence comprised a single bowl dated to the period 1610-1640 with six
further bowls dated to the mid-17 th century (Norton 2008: 20). Of note, was a single
bowl of Dutch origin, thought to date to the late 17th century.
An assemblage of pipe bowls recovered from the Ashmolean extension excavation
can be closely paralleled with those published from excavations in St Ebbe’s, Oxford
(Oswald 1984), and loosely to Oswald’s simplified national typology (Oswald 1975).
The results from the Ashmolean site tie in with Oswald’s observation at St Ebbe’s
that the local pipe industry lost some of its dominance in the 18th century to outside
competition from Wiltshire, Hampshire and Shropshire, but regained its dominance in
the 19th century (Oswald 1984: 251). At the Ashmolean extension, a late 18 th to 19 th
century curved fragment of pipe stem appeared to have been used as kiln furniture,
perhaps as a setter or a spacer in a pipe kiln, and is important evidence of pipe kilns
in the vicinity (Cotter, 2009). Previous excavations in George Street in the 1930s
recorded substantial quantities of clay pipe suggesting a possible manufacturing site
in the area (UAD 759).
Glass
Glass was commonly found in the domestic contacts from the 15th century onwards
and the 16th century saw the establishment of local glass production in England
(Leeds 1938: 153). The St Ebbe’s excavations in the 1960s and 1970s recovered
one of the most extensive collections of glass finds for the post-medieval period in
Oxford (Haslam 1984: 232). Vessel types include wine bottles, case bottles and thin
flasks, phials, jars, drinking vessels, mirror glass and window glass. In addition, 24
glass bottle seals were recorded. The glass assemblage from this site was used to
establish a vessel type series for local post-medieval glass in the Oxford region.
Excavations on Broad Street in 1936-37 in advance of construction of the Bodleian
extension revealed a significant quantity of post-medieval artefacts including large
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