Thetford ware is a type of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

medieval

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

mass-produced in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

between the late ninth and mid twelfth centuries AD. Manufactured in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, the pottery has a hard, sandy fabric, and is generally grey in colour. Most vessel types include cooking pots, bowls, jars, pitchers, and lamps.

Description

Thetford ware is a wheel-turned, mass-produced pottery having a hard, sandy fabric. Fabric colours vary from light to dark grey, and less frequently brownish-orange and buff. There are five types of forms manufactured: cooking pots, storage jars, bowls, pitchers and lamps. The cooking-pots were made in three sizes, with medium being the most commonly produced. The lamps were mostly a type of tall pedestal with hollow bases. Decoration was either unadorned or limited to applied-thumb strip decoration, several styles of rouletting, and incised bands. Rouletting is a process of carving patterns on pottery with a small toothed wheel. Rouletting decoration consisted of diamond and square shapes along with a mixture of diamonds and triangles.

History

The pottery was named for the first Thetford ware discovered in the village of Thetford, Norfolk. Archaeologists have determined that the first Thetford-type ware manufactured was in the village of Ipswich, Suffolk around 850 AD. Thetford potters first produced the wares around 925 AD. The pottery was produced and distributed throughout

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

from the late ninth though the mid twelfth centuries AD. Along with Thetford and Ipswich, the pottery was produced in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

Bircham Bircham is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It includes the three villages of Great Bircham, Bircham Newton and Bircham Tofts. The parish is located about 12 miles (20 km) north-east of the town of King's Lynn and 37 mi ...

, Grimston, and Langhale, all in Norfolk. The pottery can be found throughout eastern England, as far south as

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and as far north as

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

. Thetford ware has been discovered outside of Britain, in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

References

{{Pottery Ceramics of medieval England

Description

History

See also

References