SWAN BANK POTTERY, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent
A photographic record of the excavation as it progressed
Excavations began in 2007 and continued through 2008. We did not restart in 2009 due to the very sad death of the landowner. Periodically as the dig progressed, photographs and notes about the excavation appeared on this website in the News. These news items were interspersed with news of our other activities, and are now far down in the news archive accessed via the "More news..." link at the bottom of each news page. In order to make the Swan Bank/Clayhanger Street news items easier to find, links to them are below: click on any thumbnail to reach the relevant news item.
Click on a thumbnail to see more pictures from that stage in the excavation
The dig started on 14th October 2007
By the end of October, the remains of the 19th century oven had been revealed, followed by ...
Evidence of the 18th C oven floor beneath - complete with sagger!
Now it is nearing the end of November, and we have revealed more of the floor of the 18C oven - and more salt-glaze saggars
Tired but satisfied members having completed backfilling at the end of the 2007 season
(Maureen's broken arm is unrelated to the day's activity!)
We restarted excavation in April 2008 by working on the hovel wall of the 19C oven, and adjacent features
Now it is May, and we have uncovered a muffle oven with firebar supports and some of the firebars, still in place
In June we opened up Area B, to the south of Area A
Just before we closed the site in July, we excavated this drainage ditch, in which was some of the earliest pottery we found on site including this...
... Midlands Purple chafing dish, probably dating from the 16th Century
© Stoke-on-Trent Museum Archaeological Society, February 2011.