Outsheet Pottery in the 17th Century
Initial answer to Borderware Notes & Queries QB10 by Peter Tipton
Revised 3 Jul 2012 by Peter Tipton
Outsheet was an ancient farm in the Parish of Yateley in the Tithing of Cove close to its western boundary with the Tithing of Hawley, also in Yateley parish. Outsheet's location just to the east of Sandy Lane is shown on the map in The Crondal Records, Baigent 1890. David Cleeve, a local archaeologist and local historian Since the site was investigated after M3 was opened (Haslam 1975), the kiln site had already been lost. Jeremy Haslam's report is available on-line. NEHHAS assisted at the dig. The grid reference is given as 846569 in Table 1 of Jacqui Pearce's latest book Pots and Potters of Tudor Hampshire and is correctly labelled Outsheet, Sandy Lane. The excavation appears to have been at what is now the northern end of a footbridge over the M3, before the construction of a new housing estate called The Potteries.
A search of Yateley Parish Records reveals seven entries giving the abode as Outsheet:
Date |
|
Event |
19 Jun 1639 |
Edward James of Outsheet |
buried |
16 Dec 1642 |
Alice wife of Robert Hall of Outsheet |
buried |
3 Jan 1643 |
[blank] son of Robert Hall of Outsheet |
buried |
29 May 1661 |
John son of John Rogers of Outsheet |
baptised |
27 May 1663 |
William son of John Rogers of Outsheet |
baptised |
30 Aug 1663 |
William son of John Rogers of Outsheet |
buried |
9 Sep 1667 |
Robert son of Harman Rogers of Outsheet |
baptised |
Further investigation of these males reveals that John Rogers is stated to be a potter in the entry for the baptism of his next son John on the 28 Oct 1666, although this entry does not give his abode. The will of Robert Hall, potter of Cove, was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury in 1659. So we have the names of four men who lived at Outsheet, we know two of them were potters, and it is likely that Harmon Rogers was also involved in the potteries. We also know that Robert Hall's father, Robert Hall died 1633, was also a potter of Cove.
Robert Hall Senior's biography on this website discloses that John Rogers alias Marner, and his younger brother Henry, were his brothers-in-law. Robert Hall Senior left his cottage in West Heath, Cove to his daughter. West Heath Pottery was run by the Yeoman family in the 19th century, and may have had origins much earlier. It is therefore possible, but not proven, that Robert Hall Senior owned two different potteries, but lived at Outsheet.
In 1593 Richard Dee owned a pottery in Farnborough as well as the pottery in Lambeth at which he died. A few years either side of 1570 Richard Dee had lived near Broomhill in Cove. In 1570 he would certainly have been a potter since potters served an apprenticeship whilst in their teens. The conclusion is that Richard Dee worked as a potter near Broomhill, which is very close to Outsheet Farm. Richard Dee could therefore have worked at an earlier pottery near the site Jeremy Haslam investigated. It is intriguing that when he died Richard Dee was owned money by John Hall of Cove. Although this John Hall could have been related to Robert Hall, the potter who died at Outsheet in 1633, this has not yet been established.
So how did the John and Harmon Rogers who lived at Outsheet relate to Robert Hall the potter who died in 1659? It seems the Rogers brothers were closely related to Robert Hall junior -- but proving the exact relationship still needs further investigation. We have no documentary indication that Edward James was a potter when he died in 1639, so he must also be investigated.
The preliminary finding, therefore, is that the documentary evidence supports Jeremy Haslam's archaeological dating of the pottery as being active in the second quarter of the 17th century. However it seems that the pottery could have remained in production well into the third quarter of the 1600s. It also seems that the prominent style, noted by Haslam, of the earlier output can be attributed to Robert Hall, father and son, and that the later production can be attributed to the Rogers family. Both families were closely allied by marriage, as it seems were most potter families in this production area.
Much earlier, around 1570, there may have been another kiln site in production , very close to the site excavated by Jeremy Haslam. It must be hope that this earlier site can still be located and excavated since it would have been in production at the same time as the kilns at Farnborough Hill.
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