a group of English and imported medieval pottery from Lesnes Abbey , Kent ; and the trade in early Hispano-Moresque pottery to England . by G C Dunning , F.S.A . the group of medieval pottery described in this paper was found at Lesnes Abbey in June 1959 , when the smaller of two stone-lined pits added against the west end of the reredorter was cleared . the pit measured 8 ft by 5 ft internally , and was about 10 ft deep . the greater part of the filling , about 7 ft in depth , consisted of chalk and stone rubble , fragments of sandy mortar , a few pieces of worked stone , and broken roofing tiles . below this filling was a layer of dark soil , about 2 ft in depth , at the bottom of the pit . all the pottery was found in the layer of dark soil ; there is thus no doubt that it is contemporary , and was absolutely sealed by several feet of building debris . I am indebted to the officers of the historic buildings section of the London County council for these details , and for permission to examine the pottery and prepare this report for publication . the pottery belongs to six vessels , of which four are almost complete and must have been thrown away whole . it is divided into the following classes : 1 . two green-glazed jugs of types frequently found in the City of London , and probably made in east Surrey . 2 . an unglazed jug , probably made at Limpsfield , Surrey . 3 . a jug of polychrome ware decorated with birds and shields , and part of a glazed pitcher . both were made in western France in the region of Saintes . 4 . a large cover of Hispano-Moresque lustreware , imported from Malaga . the group is outstanding for several reasons . in a single find pottery made in the locality is associated with imports from two different countries on the continent . the three English jugs are of different types , and it is valuable to have them together in a group . the polychrome jug is a type long recognized as imported to England , and brought here by the wine trade of Gascony . the cover of Spanish lustreware is new to British medieval archaeology , and increases the range of imported pottery known to have reached England in the course of sea-trade . the date of the group is closely determined by the polychrome jug . pottery of this class was made in western France and exported to England during a very short period . the available evidence , cited below ( p 5 ) , points to the period c 1280-1300 for the date of the group of pottery from Lesnes Abbey . 1 . green-glazed jugs ( pl 1a and figs 1 , 2 ) . fig 1 . baluster jug , 16 1/4 in high , made of light grey sandy ware , mostly covered outside by a buff slip , and glazed streaky light green on the neck and body to below the bulge . the profile shows a continuous curve , the only demarcation between neck and body being a ridge at two-thirds of the height . the handle is plain and circular in section . the edge of the base is slightly moulded , and the middle of the base sags slightly below the level of the edge . this is a typical example of the standard type of baluster jug frequently found in the City of London . the slender form , absence of decoration , and unstable base suggest that the type was not primarily intended for use at the table , but rather for drawing water out of a well . that pottery jugs were used for this purpose is shown by the accumulation of over fifty jugs , many intact , in the filling of a medieval well excavated by Mr S S Frere between St George &apos;s Street and Burgate , Canterbury , in 1952 . fig 2 . ovoid jug , 12 1/4 in high , made of light grey sandy ware with light reddish buff surface , covered by yellow slip . mottled green glaze covers the neck and body to below the bulge . the neck is cylindrical , separated from the bulbous body by a ridge , and the base is retracted above the foot-ring on which the jug stands steadily . the rim has an outward slope , with a groove and moulding below , and is pinched to form a small lip . at the middle of the neck is a broad rounded cordon between a ridge and a narrow flat cordon . the handle is plain and circular in section . the ovoid jug with retracted foot is also a type common in London , and sometimes profusely decorated . the contemporaneity of these two jugs is confirmed by the finding of fragments of both types in medieval buildings in Joyden &apos;s Wood , near Bexley , where the occupation is limited to the period c 1280-1320 . the kilns where they were made have not yet been located , but probably they were to the south of London , in east Surrey . one site was at Earlswood , where potters &apos; refuse and wasters have been known for a long time . 2 . unglazed jug ( fig 3 ) . large part of neck , body , and base of a small jug , about 6.1 in high , made of grey sandy ware with dark grey surface , unglazed . the body is bulging , with wide sagging base . the upper part of the body is marked by fine horizontal grooves and wheel-marks . the neck contracts upwards , and the rim was everted . the lower part of the handle is preserved separately ; it is roughly circular in section , and deeply stab-marked down the back . unglazed jugs of grey ware , rather archaic in character , are known from a number of sites in north-west Kent . the major site is Eynsford Castle , where excavations by the ministry of works have produced many jugs of this type in deposits of the end of the thirteenth century . other sites are at Joyden &apos;s Wood near Bexley , and at Bexley . pottery of this character was made in east Surrey , where at least one kiln-site is known . recently Mr Brian Hope-Taylor excavated a kiln and potter &apos;s workshop at Vicars Haw , Limpsfield , which produced a mass of jugs , cooking-pots , and bowls with the characteristics given above . 3 . pottery from western France . polychrome jug ( pl 1b and fig 4 ) . several fragments of a nearly complete jug , skilfully restored at the institute of archaeology , London . the jug , 10.3 in high , is made of thin whitish ware with a thin colourless glaze on the outside surface . it is of slender pear-shape with retracted foot . the decoration in free-style is of a bird and a shield on each side , and a third shield beneath the spout . the figures are outlined in dark brown ; the birds are coloured green and the shields are orange-yellow , with three bars instead of the more usual two . one bird and two shields are nearly complete , but the rest of the decoration is fragmentary . the bird and shield design is one of the leading patterns on polychrome ware . examples , more or less complete , are known in England and Wales from London , Stonar , Felixstowe , Cardiff , and Llantwit Major . the shape of the jug also occurs several times on jugs from London , Ipswich , Writtle , Canterbury , Old Sarum , Glastonbury Abbey , and Whichford Castle . since the initial discussion and inventory of polychrome ware in Archaeologia in 1933 , a considerable number of new finds has been made in Britain . the total number of sites now stands at twenty-five in England , six in Wales , still one in Scotland , and Ireland ( as predicted in the original paper ) can now show three sites . these additions alone call for a re-evaluation of the material , but even more significant is the new evidence in France . the kilns of an intense medieval pottery industry have been discovered at La Chappelle-des-Pots , a village to the east of Saintes in Charente Maritime . the manufacture here of polychrome ware and the other types of pottery also exported from France to England is now an established fact . it is now possible , therefore , to discuss more fully the trade in polychrome ware from its centre of production in France , and to give a more balanced evaluation of its distribution in the British Isles . for the present purpose it must suffice to summarize the evidence for the date of polychrome ware . this is based on finds made at five castles , either built by Edward 1 , occupied by the English for a limited period , or where the deposits are related to building periods of the structure . the castles and the limiting dates are as follows : the gist of this evidence is that at the longest range polychrome ware dates between 1270 and 1325 . in fact the range can be narrowed down to between 1280 and 1300 , since most of the initial and terminal dates overlap . although pottery of other types made in the same part of western France has been found in Britain in contexts both earlier and later than the above dates , there is no evidence otherwise that polychrome ware had a longer range in date . the evidence as a whole suggests that polychrome ware was not only imported but indeed made during a very short period , and that it was produced in the lifetime of one or at most two generations of potters . glazed pitcher ( fig 5 ) . the base and lower half of a pitcher is also identified as an import from western France . it is made of thin , hard yellow ware with fine red grit . the surface is smooth and yellow-buff , with patches of green glaze above the bulge . the base is markedly raised at the middle . the pot belongs to a group well represented at Saintes by barrel-shaped and ovoid pitchers and jugs . these have a large bridge-spout and a single strap-handle , as on the polychrome jugs , and the base is usually hollowed underneath . on some of the jugs the decoration consists of slip lines in brown or red forming a chevron or trellis pattern limited to the upper part of the body , as was evidently the case on the Lesnes Abbey pot . the ware of the pots at Saintes is sometimes equal in quality to that of the polychromes , and sometimes more gritty . it is probable , therefore , that these vessels , of which fragments were found at the kiln-sites at La Chappelle-des-Pots , were also made elsewhere in the vicinity of Saintes . a pitcher decorated with a trellis in red slip , in the Mus&amp;eacute;e Municipal at Saintes , has been used to complete the drawing of the Lesnes Abbey pot . 4 . Spanish lustreware ( pl 11 and fig 6 ) . two fragments of thick whitish ware , glazed and decorated on both surfaces . the outside is mostly covered by zones of pale amber lustre , comprising broad and narrow solid bands , sloping panels , chevrons , and large scrolls . between the lustre are two narrow bands painted in cobalt-blue ( hatched in the drawing ) . the smaller fragment has two concentric mouldings on the outside above the inner blue band ; the inner moulding is more prominent than the outer . on the inside surface the lustre is fainter , and shows the same range of motifs as on the outside , also a narrow band of guilloche ; no blue bands are present on the inside . the pieces belong to the same vessel , a large cover or lid , 15 3/4 in in diameter at the rim . at the inner edge of the upper piece the profile turns sharply upwards for a knob for lifting , as restored in the drawing . the Lesnes Abbey cover is identified as Hispano-Moresque ware made at Malaga in Andalusia by comparison with numerous fragments , in the Victoria and Albert Museum , found at Fostat near Cairo . the origin of this lustre-painted pottery is demonstrated by a foot-ring from Fostat , inscribed with the Arabic word Malaga . such marks are seldom found on this class of pottery , and may indicate that they were limited to vessels destined for exportation . a close parallel for the shape and decoration of the Lesnes Abbey cover is provided by a large piece of a cover from Fostat ( pl 3a ) . this is also decorated on both sides by bands of pale amber lustre , and near the top are mouldings precisely like those on the Lesnes Abbey cover . the shape of these covers is given by a complete cover for a pedestalled bowl , both painted with arabesque patterns in lustre and in blue , also in the Victoria and Albert Museum ( pl 3b ) . 