Ipswich UAD child record record IPS 1167 - Pottery Kiln 2062

This single flue, up-draught kiln, partially sunk into the ground, was well preserved, with only the stokehole, the north-east corner of the oven and the upper part of the dome missing. The lower part of the oven was divided into two flues by a separating spine wall of clay which stopped short of the north wall and from which arches sprang to form the firing platform.
Two arches remained in situ at the north end of the east flue, and the confused remains of several others were found collapsed into the layer below. One intact and one collapsed arch were found in situ in the west flue, with evidence of the missing arches in the form of scars and protuberances on the central ridge. No trace of these arches was found in the bottom of the west flue, and they must have been removed before the end of the life of the kiln.
The kiln had been covered with a clay dome, the walls of which survived to a height of c.60cm, except in the north-east corner, where they had been removed by a later pit. The dome was probably capped with a removable roof and some sort of simple chimney. The lower west wall showed extensive evidence of repair, with the added clay having been tamped into position using the rim of a pottery bottle of a type associated with the kiln. The kiln wall sealed layers of ash and charcoal from an earlier firing.
Impressions left in the clay show that it had been built using arches of withies as formers for the flues, arches and dome, with the non-removable part of the dome packed against the sides of the pit.
1109 sherds of Ipswich ware were recovered from the kiln, comprising jars, jugs and highly decorated bottles, which are of quite different forms to ‘normal’ Ipswich ware, but have the same fabrics (Blinkhorn 1989).
The largest group of Buttermarket-type Ipswich ware recorded from outside the town was excavated at the high status MS settlement at Brandon. The ware was absent from the earliest phase of MS occupation, but formed 6.1% of the assemblage in phase 2.1, which it is argued is 9th century (Blinkhorn pers com).
Dating for kiln 2062 is poor but would support the evidence from Brandon. It did not cut any other MS features, and was only cut by ELS pits. However, a sherd from the kiln was found to join another from MS pit 0933. This pit cut hearth 0924, which was associated with MS building 5128. This suggests a later MS date for the kiln, although the sherd from pit 0933 could be residual, (S1).