10,000 medieval pottery finds at Newport Memorial Hall

  • Published
Pots being washedImage source, Newport Medieval Pottery Kiln
Image caption,

Volunteers are needed to help wash, mark and sort the pottery

Archaeologists have found 10,000 pieces of medieval pottery at a site in Pembrokeshire.

Work to conserve the kiln at Newport Memorial Hall has unearthed what could be a second kiln, and the pieces of pots and jugs, some glazed.

Some have the potter's thumb print, from men who worked at the site more than 500 years ago.

Archaeologist Nick Taverner, said he had recovered more in 10 days than in a 40-year career in the field.

Image source, Newport Medieval Pottery Kiln

The team has appealed for volunteers to help wash, mark and sort the pottery by hand, to attend the hall between 10:00 BST and 12:30 on Monday mornings.

It is also waiting to fully excavate what could be the lost medieval kiln documented by archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler in 1921.

The group added it is emerging that Newport had a "substantial pottery industry" some 500 years ago and it hopes to discover how far this forgotten pottery travelled and piece together medieval life in Pembrokeshire.

Image source, Newport Medieval Pottery Kiln