Victory Park Pottery, Addlestone, Stove Tiles.

page prepared by David Barker, Addlestone Historical Society

As previously reported , a find of early 17th century pottery, including wasters, was made when road realignment and the reconstruction of tennis courts were made in the Victory Park area of Addlestone. Among the tennis court group of pottery and tile fragments was a single fragment of heraldically decorated stove tile bearing the arms of James I (1603-1625). The discovery of this fragment in the context of waster groups of Surrey Border Ware is discussed here. The publication of a detailed study of the class has suggested many possible local connections with their production and raised possibilities of linking the Addlestone find with local land tenure.

A total of three fragments of stove tile were recovered from the site from two separate areas. Two pieces were of the form described made of a sandwich of red and white firing clay but with no diagnostic heraldic decoration. Fig.1 illustrates the form with the Addlestone fragment superimposed. A detailed examination suggests that the die used to produce the Addlestone example is apparently subtly different from that illustrated. In particular, an extra cut is shown in the area of the heraldic thistle. Also variant is the fabric used in the Addlestone example. This fragment is made from a redware unlike the Cove samples where the fabric is a white firing clay. Clearly visible on the reverse of the piece is the impression of a backing cloth as found on the Cove examples.

A consideration of the production techniques of this type of ware might allow for either an intaglio mould or a roller die to produce tile matrixes at a number of locations co-evally or the transfer of a master die to another site and its subsequent recutting or adjustment. If it could be demonstrated that the Jacobean Arms on both the Addlestone and Cove fragments were indeed from the same die this find has great potential to add to the study of the Border Ware industry in general and indeed the transfer or introduction of these production skills around the county and beyond. The analytical survey of the clay types used to produce the surviving tiles and tile fragments suggests that while the white firing fabric could be linked in clusters of clay origin; in particular the Cove material with the later forms including Elizabethan and Jacobean arms; the red fabric was not a suitable diagnostic feature, the material coming from a wide variety of sources.

One of the many issues raised by the discovery of the production of these highly specialised wares in the area has been the context in which these tiles were available and used in the community. Recent publication has further indicated the extent to which the whole of NW Surrey was used by all the Tudor and Stuart monarchs as a hunting preserve, the intensity of the local royal land holdings and the concomitant residence of courtiers of all ranks in the area. The specialised use of the stove tile in this country at this time is apparently little recorded. However elements of the Henrician construction used at Whitehall Palace are now on display in the British Museum. One of the best contemporary references is found in William Harrison’s Description of England, published in 1587, where he records: “As for stoves, we have not hitherto used them greatly, yet do they begin to be made in diverse houses of the gentry and wealthy citizens, who build them not to work and feed in as in Germany and elsewhere, but now and then to sweat in, as occasion and need shall require it.” This succinctly illustrates the diffusion of the structures from Royal apartments to the wealthy population in general and the establishment of a niche market for the heraldic stove tile.

The Victory Park find of undoubted stove tile fragments in a body of early 17th century domestic pottery including wasters confirms the evidence from the Cove, Hampshire site of stove tile production, with their overtly Royal display firmly linked to the production of domestic wares. The techniques for stove tile production were by the beginning of the 17th century well established, the clay varieties readily available and a local and highly motivated market for the finished product in place.

Attention has already been drawn to the estate at Sayes Court , held under royal lease since 1548 where an “Oven” is noted as a separate structure at the beginning of the recitation of the property in 1610. This may indeed be an oven in the traditional sense or a contemporary notation for a heated sauna-like complex ideally situated for the use of the Court and or the Sovereign and members of his immediate entourage during or after a hunting expedition. The prominent display of new Royal arms in property visited or used by the Tudors and Stuarts would have been advantageous at the least. It may also be considered that the relatively simple device of using the relevant tile matrix in stove or non stove use would also be a cost-effective method of showing loyalty to the regime and could be achieved faster and more cheaply than by the use of tapestries or schemes of elaborate wall painting or wallpaper. The “green and yellow” floor tiles at Ashley Park, Walton on Thames , the product of a local (Chertsey) tile maker, were supplied at precisely the same time as the presumed date of the Jacobean stove tiles being produced at Addlestone. Research to connect this maker with the Victory Park find has not yet been undertaken, however a limited investigation has shown that a number of brick and tile makers were working in Chertsey parish throughout the 16th and 17th century.

Another recent find of a stove tile fragment in the area is noted. This is said to be from a 16th Century tile and the proximity of the find spot to Oatlands Palace is noted.

A later contribution will examine the pottery types produced at the Addlestone site and, it is hoped, include the results of documentary research into the area of the find.

THE VICTORY PARK POTTERY Update

Following the publication of the latest work detailing the Borderware industry and in particular the kiln site at Farnborough Hill, Hampshire , contact was made with the author who kindly consented to view the material originally discovered in 1985 . The pottery and other finds had been cleaned, marked and sorted for assembly of profiles by a number of volunteers when the archive was in the custody of Chertsey Museum. We are extremely grateful to them for all the preliminary work which has made further processing so much easier.

Attention has been drawn over the years to the existence of a number of stove tile fragments in the assemblage and the opportunity to revisit the material has shown the existence of at least three separate tiles, one already noted , another two edge fragments showing the sandwiching of white and red firing clays to form the familiar green glazed profile.

One of the major features of the Farnborough Hill site was the recognition of the involvement of immigrant potters in the industry. Harmon Raingold, listed in the 1586 Lay Subsidy Rolls for Hampshire as an “allian”, seems to be the same Herman Reynolds whose will of 1609 described him as a potter. This German craftsman from the Rhineland was, at his death, owed the sum of £44 by Henry Brooke of Chertsey. The large scale of the industry in the Blackwater Valley at this time is now well attested; however the Addlestone find significantly moves the area of production closer to more convenient river-borne transport to the major market of London and other riparian settlements. Not only do we now have documentary evidence for a link between the two areas but the products of the two kiln sites demonstrate the distinct styles and pottery forms introduced from the Continent at this time. These include tripod pipkins, chamber pots, stove tiles and so-called encrusted ware in the shape of mugs with applied bands of crushed flint or stone. Jacqueline Pearce commented on the wide range of typical forms and also noted a new decorative detail in the form of a thumb impressed rim from what may be a large jar.

We hope that this note will encourage members to report any further discoveries of red or green glazed pottery fragments or indications of interest in working on the Addlestone group to ensure a more speedy publication of this important find. Comprehensive scientific and documentary research is still needed to establish a firm chronology and distribution; however as a result of Jacqueline Pearce’s visit we are more than ever convinced that Addlestone’s Victory Park find represents a major advance in the study of one of the most important south eastern pottery type of the Elizabethan and Stuart period.