An assemblage of 17th-century pottery from Bombay Wharf, Rotherhithe, London SE16 (original) (raw)

2007, Post-Medieval Archaeology

A detailed examination of an assemblage of pottery deposited during the last quarter of the 17th century at Bombay Wharf, in Rotherhithe, London, provides the opportunity to look at the wider context of painted earthenwares made at selected centres on the Continent and found in London. The Rotherhithe material includes a high proportion of imported pottery, with fi ne examples of Portuguese faience, Ligurian maiolica and Dutch tin-glazed ware. The wider distribution of these wares in London is considered, as well as questions of the original context in which they appeared and the circumstances of their disposal. THE SITE Evaluation and excavation were carried out by the Museum of London Archaeology Service (MoLAS) at Bombay Wharf, in Rotherhithe, SE16, in 2001-02, as part of a wider investigation, in advance of development, of an area including Ceylon Wharf, East India Wharf and 101-105 Rotherhithe Street (Fig. 1). 1 The site is situated between St Mary Church Street and Rotherhithe Street (NGR 535100 179800). Work included two phases of evaluation trenches and two excavation trenches. The fi nds discussed here come principally from the 2002 excavations. The site lies on river alluvium over Thames terrace gravels forming Rotherhithe Eyot, an area from which considerable evidence for prehistoric activity has been recovered. 2 From the 14th century Rotherhithe was associated with shipbuilding and repair, and with allied trades into the 19th century. Finds of late 13th-to 15th-century pottery were recovered from evaluation trenches at Ceylon Wharf in 2001, and at Bombay Wharf, although these are not discussed here. Towards the end of