Aberdeen City HER - NJ90NW0918 - SEATON POTTERY

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Main Details

Primary ReferenceNJ90NW0918
NameSEATON POTTERY
NRHE Card No. 
NRHE Numlink 112295
HES SM No. NULL
HES LB No. NULL
Site Form Documentary Record Only
Site Condition Destroyed
Details Excavations were carried out at the Seaton Pottery (NJ90NW0129) by ACC Archaeological Unit in August 2002 and August-September 2003. Small scale resistivity work had suggested that some of the buildings survived adjacent to the high rise buildings on the site. Geophysical survey was carried out by Geophysics Bradford in 2003 did not identify any structures thought to be associated with the pottery. Areas were targeted for excavation on the basis of map evidence, and seven trenches were dug on areas which had been occupied by pottery buildings. Three trenches uncovered clay pits which pre-dated the construction of the Pottery buildings. Incised lines in the base of one pit were probably marks left by small metal-wheeled carts used for transporting the clay. These pits are probably of mid-19th century date, a time when the Seaton Brick and Tile Works (NJ90NW0828) occupied the land to the west. A spread of clays containing brick and tile fragments within trench 1, one layer comprising broken pantiles, probably represent a dump from the Brick and Tile works. The site of the kilns of the Pottery (built in 1868) is now under Seaton Crescent. Trench 6, east of the road, recorded the wall of a building adjacent to a roadway which had an ashy path to either side. Plant pots incised with the mark of Clarke and Smith were recovered from an area beside the road, possibly dumped to make up the ground. Layers in trench 5 containing broken ceramics probably represent activity during the early years of the Mills period of the pottery, the pieces including cream slipware bowl sherds and fragments of kiln spacers and saggers. A brick wall foundation recorded in Trench 5 was the remains of the wall delineating the western extent of the pottery lands. In trench 7 a pottery wasters dump probably dates from the mid-20th century: material from the dump also included fragments of plaster moulds, waster sherds and clinker. The finds from the excavations comprised mainly pottery and kiln furniture discarded from the Pottery during the period 1868-1964. The pottery includes examples of well-known Seaton wares and examples of vessels which were not known prior to the excavation. No stamped pieces from the Gavin and Ritchie phase of the pottery are known.
Last Update23/05/2023
Updated Bybmann
CompilerACU
Date of Compilation13/09/2017

Google Map for NJ90NW0918

National Grid Reference: NJ 9466 0868



Event Details

Event DateEvent TypeOASIS ID
2002 Excavation aberdeen3-53551
2003 Excavation aberdeen3-53551
2003 Geophysical Survey

Excavations and Surveys

Date MDate YTypeDurationDirector / OrganisationAuspicesFundExtent
 2002 Excavation  AAU   
 2003 Excavation  AAU   

Artefact and Ecofact

Date MDate YArtefact TypeFinderRecovery MethodConditionStorage LocationAccess No.
 2003 SLIPWARE BOWL SHERDS AAU Excavation  
 2003 KILN SPACERS AAU Excavation  
 2003 SAGGERS AAU Excavation  
 2003 SEATON WARES AAU Excavation  

Ecofact

Samples
Palynology
Ecofact Notes

Monument Types

Monument Type 1Monument Type 2Monument Type 3OrderProbability
PITSCLAY A100
BRICKS  B100
TILES  C100
KILNS  D100
WALLS  E100
SHERDSBOWL G100
SPACERSKILN G100
DUMPSPOTTERY H100
MOULDSPLASTER I100
FURNITUREKILN J100