The Woodruff Collection

THE WOODRUFF COLLECTION JASON MONAGHAN, B.Sc. The Reverend John Woodruff was vicar of Upchurch Parish from 1834 until his death in 1869. Away from his parochial responsibilities, he dabbled in various pursuits including etymology and antiquarianism. He was one of the early amateurs who collected antiquities from the banks of the river Medway, both through personal exploration and via contacts with workmen and farmers of his parish. Finds from the Roman period were the most common, and chief amongst these is his assemblage of 'Upchurch Ware'. What little is known of his discoveries is mainly recorded by others - chiefly George Payne' and Cumberland H. Woodruff.2 From these we can glean tantalising suggestions concerning the extent of the Upchurch potteries which have been discussed elsewhere.3 Woodruff's collection of pottery is important to the student despite the paucity of reliable evidence concerning its recovery. It is possible to judge, for example, that the bulk of his finds were indeed found at Upchurch. Those of exotic origin are so marked, whilst most of the remainder are specifically tagged 'Upchurch Marshes'. The thin script of these labels is clearly visible in a photograph of the collection taken during the 1880s. • The pots are in many cases stained yellow or suffer from the effects of sea-water or marsh grass-attributes which can clearly be seen on vessels recovered in modern times. The fabrics and style are identical to those found in the collections of George Payne and I. Noel Hume at the British Museum, the Wickham Collection at Maidstone and the Williams, Walters, and Prentiss Collections at 1 G. Payne, Collectanea Canciana, London 1893, 72. 2 C.H. Woodruff, in C.E. Woodruff, Memorials of the Family of Woodruff, unpublished MS, 1889. 3 J. Monaghan, 'An Investigation of the Romano-British Pottery Industries on the Upchurch Marshes', Arch. Cant., xcviii (1982), 27-50. 'C.E. Woodruff, op. cit., facing p. 41. 199 J. MONAGHAN Rochester. Literary indications are that the vast majority of finds were recovered from the environs of Otterham Creek. The east bank of the creek is known from several referencesl to have contained a large cemetery; this would explain the presence of many complete vessels in the collection which are not kiln wasters. It is possible that many of the 'slight seconds' may have been used as funereal vessels. The antiquarians recognised that the areas they searched were being rapidly destroyed due to the direct and indirect results of commercial mud extraction.6 Otterham is now virtually barren as a pottery find-spot, and the modern finds from elsewhere on the marshes exhibit a different range of forms. The antiquarian vessels thus represent our only knowledge of those destroyed sites - inadequate though it might be. The collection presented to the Guildhall Museum, Rochester, by Woodruffs sons1 contains the largest crosssection of whole Upchurch pots to which modern fragmentary finds may be usefully compared. Cumberland Woodruff noted that 'it is rare to find a vessel without a flaw of any kind'. 8 Many of the pots are either wasters or sub-standard 'seconds'; some of these were illustrated by Noel Hume in 1954,9 but many more have remained thus far unpublished. The collection arrived at the museum some time between its opening in 1903 and the compilation of the 1905 accessions catalogue. Half a dozen donations by the Woodruff family led to the acquisition of 157 items in total. These included 16 pots which were certainly of exotic origin and 12 lots of fired clay pieces and briquetage. Of the remaining 129 'Upchurch Ware' pots, 6 are recorded as being 'scrapped' in 1951. A total of 77 were successfully identified as belonging to the collection when the museum store was investigated. The complete accessions number was not visible on 11 of these. There remain 46 vessels unaccounted for, and we can only assume that most have become lost or broken during the past eighty years. It is likely that many lie unmarked amongst the collections of Messrs. Williams, Walters and Prentiss as some dozen items from these were stored along with Woodruff's finds. 1 J. Woodruff, John Woodruffs Journal 1851-56, unpublished MS; C. Roach Smith, Collectanea An1iqua, vi (1868), 1897. 6 J. Woodruff, op. cit., 18. 7 The accession numbers of each brother's donations are: C.H. Woodruff - 92-5, 221-333, 642-3; J.W, Woodruff - 189-220b, 632, 649-9, 704-5, 718-20. 8 C.H. Woodruff, op. cit., 42. 9 I. Noel Hume, 'Romano-British Potteries on the Upchurch Marshes', Arch. Cant., lxviii (1954), 85, Fig. 3. 200 THE WOODRUFF COLLECTION The vessels in the museum have in some cases been repaired, and these were at times difficult to detect. All the illustrations which follow omit such reconstruction as is conjectural. Many have also at some time either been painted with black ink or had graphite rubbed into the surface to effect a shine. This over-zealous conservation masks the true surface finish and fabric of some ten pots, but an attempt is made to describe the original condition. The visitor to the museum should be aware that many of the items on display are thus darker and shinier than when recovered. Certain vessels carry intriguing features, which are shared by some pots in the other collections mentioned. Some are marked with dark linear discolourations. Ian Jackson suggested that this might be due to marsh grass growing within and around the pots as they lay in swampy pools. The pots affected in this way are marked with an 'S' in the fabric description. Although the vessels are substantially complete, twenty-two either have a punctured base or no base at all. Some of the damage could be accounted for by normal use or careless excavation, but the proportion of otherwise intact vessels without bases is very curious. Great pains have obviously been taken to remove most of the base from vessel 10 (Fig. 2) - it has been struck eight times to achieve the result. Vessel 9 (Fig. 2) was similarly treated, but upon puncturing the wall of the pot, the mutilation was abandoned. Such deliberate breakage in a selective manner is - as far as the author is aware - unparalleled in Romano-British archaeology. It is tempting to see this as a manifestation of 'ritual killing' prior to their use as grave goods, but clearer evidence of their employment as such would be required in order to make such an assertion. In describing the pottery, only those vessels which could possibly come under the umbrella title of 'Upchurch Ware' have been included. Of the items illustrated by Noel Hume, only three of the Woodruff examples could be found. These have been re-drawn because the previous work contained only reconstructions rather than detailed depictions of the wasters themselves. Many vessels in the collection are cracked, twisted or asymmetrical and are drawn as such. The right-hand portion of each drawing features the pots more distorted aspect, whilst the vertical section is that thought most to resemble the shape the potter originally intended. The dating evidence from a score of sites - some of which is flatly contradictory - has been condensed into a simple synthesis to avoid a multiplicity of cross-references. Some vessels require a far more extensive investigation of north Kent pottery before they can be satisfactorily dated. The fabric descriptions have in some cases been inhibited by original or modern surface treatments, repairs and the lack of visible 201 J. MONAGHAN -- 1 4 Fig. 1. Closed Forms (Scale: ¼). 202 -• --- THE WOODRUFF COLLECTION breaks. Two of the fabric types noted in Monaghan 198310 were readily recognised and refined as follows. Fabric II : Grey to black with lighter cross-section, often burnished on exterior and occasionally slipped. The fabric contains sparse to moderate amounts of fine quartz grains. Brittle to the touch, the pots are crenellated in section. Fabric III: Usually grey-black, often with a thin oxidised layer below the reduced surface and a sandwiched appearance in section. Surface rougher than II, burnishing often confined to the shoulders and decoration. Contains moderate to abundant amounts of medium quartz grains. All vessels are wheel-made unless stated otherwise. Fig. 1. Items 1-4; bottles and flagons in purely Roman style which are possibly not of local manufacture. (1) Pinch-necked jug. Dark grey, light grey in section in fabric tempered with abundant fine quartz. Dated from later first to mid-second centuries. No accessions number, but probably no. 265. (2) Bottle, burnished black and grey in section. Fabric as 1. Dated to mid-second century. Found 1838, no. 321. (3) Orange jug, slipped white in a grog-tempered fabric. Dated to early second century. No. 281. (4) Orange jug, slipped white in a grog-tempered fabric. Possibly exotic, but handle is very uneven. Small hole smashed in base from outside. 'S'. Found 1840, no number. (5) Small grey jar in grog-tempered fabric. No. 300. (6) Small orange miniature vessel. Described in the catalogue as part of a pair, the 1889 photograph" shows the two joined together. Hand-made in a coarse, ill-sorted abundant quartz fabric. No. 201. (7) Grey-buff jar, orange in section. Coarse fabric contains frequent medium quartz and medium flint inclusions. Discoloured, 'S'. Probably first-century. No. 269. (8) Jar in beaker style, burnished all over a glossy black. Fabric II. Decoration is in 'London Ware' style i.e. of A.D.9􀁼130. No. 222. 10 Ibid., 46. 11 Op. cit., in note 4. 203 J. MONAGHAN 11 Fig. 2. Early Jars (Scale: ¼). 204 THE WOODRUFF COLLECTION Fig. 2. Grey ware jars of local type. Vessels 9, 10, 11, and 13 are in the Iron Age tradition of the area but are probably post-conquest in date. (9) Buff jar, burnished black on the shoulder and rim. Mainly hand-made but possibly finished on a slow wheel. Lower body knife-trimmed. Fabric contains abundant medium quartz. Base hit repeatedly to attempt removal, but side punctured only. Date: pre-conquest, surviving to the end of the first century. No. 211. (10) Grey jar, hand-made with knife-trimmed base. Fabric and date as 9. Base smashed off by 8 blows. No. 204. (11) Buff jar. Fabric contains no visible inclusions. Unevenly wheel-made. Discoloured. Found in 1840, no. 247. (12) Grey jar, burnished black on shoulder and rim. Wheel-made, but base knife-trimmed. Fabric III. Discoloured and distorted, base missing, possible 'second'. Possesses several residual Iron Age features but probably dates around the end of the first century. (13) Grey jar, carelessly burnished black in zones around the neck and base. Fabric III. No. 313. (14) Orange jar. Fabric contains fine quartz. Base is of inwardturning native type, but is otherwise an ubiquitous form with individual variations difficult to date with any certainty. In use throughout the second century. No. 297. ( 15) Grey jar, burnished black on shoulder in Fabric III. Date as 14. No. 266. (16) Buff jar. Fabric contains abundant medium quartz, sparse coarse gravel and sparse medium haematite lumps. No. 319. Fig. 3. (17) Grey jar, coloured black since recovery. Fabric III. Vessel uneven and base is broken. Date as 14. No. 326. (18) Brown jar in fabric III. Base is broken. Date as 14. No. 191. (19) Black jar, possibly coloured since recovery. Burnished black above and below burnished decoration. Fabric III. Base is broken. Although obviously inspired by the 'BB2' range, it is taller and thicker than usual. Second-century. No. 327. (20) Small grey jar, buff in section and burnished black on shoulder, rim and base. Fabric contains moderate fine quartz and sparse medium grog lumps. Repaired in antiquity using lead. Dates from A.D. 90 to 200, but most common in the early second century, style being related to BB2. No. 198. (21) Small jar, discoloured black-grey. Burnished black on shoul- 205 J. MONAGHAN 20 Fig. 3. Later Jars (Scale: ¼). 206 21 THE WOODRUFF COLLECTION -· ------l Fig. 4. Early Bowls (Scale: n. 207 J. MONAGHAN Fig. 5. Later Bowls (Scale: ¼). 208 ... ' ·􀀄': .... . ::-.: ": ' . ' ' THE WOODRUFF COLLECTION der, lip and decoration. Fabric II. Date as 20. No. 208. (22) Jar, intended to be grey with black burnished shoulder and foot, it has discoloured red in places. Fabric III. Large white flame discolouration suggests a 'second'. Second-century. No. 320. Fig. 4. All the bowl types owe something to Iron Age antecedents, although there is a tendency to lose features such as cordons into the second century. (23) Grey bowl in fabric III. Hole punched in base. Iron Age form in Romanising fabric. Mid-first century. No. 325. (24) Small jar/bowl, grey but burnished black on shoulder. Light grey in section, Fabric III. No. 277. (25) Light grey bowl. Hand-made fabric contains medium to coarse quartz plus occasional coarse gravel and medium haematite. Mid-first century. Marked 'Milfordhope 1867'. Ian Jackson has confirmed that the type is still found in that area. No. 268. (26) Grey bowl, burnished black on exterior and inside the rim. Fabric II ? Base is very thin and holed, possibly due to wear or bad manufacture. No. 294 (27) Glossy black burnished bowl, orange in section. Fabric contains moderate very fine quartz and sparse medium grog. Half a pot only. Found 1858, no. 212. (28) Black bowl, grey in section. Burnished on shoulder and rim, possibly over a slip. Coloured since discovery. Fabric III. Base smashed out. No. 305. (29) Black bowl, burnished all over. Fabric III. Late second century. Found 1872, no. 317. (30) Bowl, burnished pink all over. Fabric II ? No. 207. (31) Pale pink bowl. Fabric possibly grog-tempered. Found 1867, no. 234. Fig. 5. (32) Grey-orange discoloured bowl. Distorted and blistered body, rim, base, a very obvious waster. Fabric III. Late first-early second centuries. Possibly same vessel as Noel-Hume (1954) 3.6. No number but marked 'Donated by Mr J. Black 1893, Hartlip, Kent.' (33) Grey bowl with neck and shoulder burnished black. Slightly distorted and discoloured - a possible 'second'. Fabric Ill. 'S'. Date from the end of the first to the start of the third century. No number. 209 ········· ···.·.·..·..·.·..· . ·················· ··········•·"·'·' J J. MONAGHAN · · ···· · ·. ····· . . . . .. ······. .. .r-., -::\)}/>· ·-:-;* Fig. 6. Early Poppy-head Beakers (Scale: ¼). 210 THE WOODRUFF COLLECTION (34) Grey-brown bowl. Distorted, possible 'second'. Fabric contains abundant medium-coarse flint with moderate medium quartz. No. 632. (35) Pale pink bowl, burnished on exterior and inside rim. Fabric II. Base sags. No. 192. (36) Grey bowl in fabric III. Base knife-trimmed. Late first century. No. 292. (37) Grey bowl burnished on neck. Knife-trimmed base. Fabric III. Distorted and cracked - possible v,:aster. Mid- to late-first century. No. 202. (38) Black dish, burnished on all surfaces. Fabric Ill. Fits into the second century A.D. BB2 series; the only dish in the collection. No number. (39) Colander, grey, in fabric III. Base repeatedly pierced before firing. Functional types such as this are notoriously chronologically insensitive. No. 649. Fig. 6. Poppy-head beakers originate on the Continent in terra nigra fabrics 12 and imitations were produced in Britain after the conquest. Upchurch seems to have been a major producer of the form from the mid-first to early-third centuries. There are problems with the precise chronology, but the illustrations in Figs. 6 and 7 are approximately in order. Where the fabrics could not be seen and described, it is safe to assume most are fabric II. (40) Black beaker, burnished on upper two-thirds of body. Dated A.D. 75-90. No number. (41) Black beaker, burnished all over. Fabric II. Dated A.D. 80-110. Marked 'Sepulchral Urn'. No. 96. (42) Light grey beaker, burnished black above decoration. Fabric contains moderate very fine quartz and moderate medium grog. Curiously partially decorated by rouletting before the application of the usual barbotine dot panels. Unless this was an experiment in design, it must represent an error by the potter or his assistant. If this is so, it suggests that another vessel type, normally decorated by rouletting was produced by the same team of potters at the same time. First half of second century. No. 195. 12 P. Tyers, 'The Poppy-head Beakers of Britain and their Relationship to the Barbotine-decorated Vessels of the Rhineland and Switzerland". in P. Arthur and G. Marsh, (Eds.), Early Fine Wares in Roman Britain. BAR 57. Oxford 1978. 61-108. 211 J. MONAGHAN .............. Fig. 7. Later Poppy-head Beakers (Scale: ¼). 212 (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) THE WOODRUFF COLLECTION Pink beaker, slip-coated and burnished. Mid-second century. No. 640. Grey beaker, some burnishing on rim. Fabric II. Discoloured. Mid-second century. No. 189. Black beaker, burnished all over. Fabric II. Base missing. No. 258. Black beaker, light grey in section, burnished all over. Fabric II. Date A.D. 100-140. Found 1867, no. 258. Red beaker, light grey in section, burnished all over. Fabric II. Discoloured, distorted and blistered. Definite 'second'. Date A.D. 140-160. Found 1830, no. 311. Noel Hume (1954) 3.7. Black beaker, burnished all over and possibly slipped. Fabric II. Discoloured, rim twisted and blistered. Definite 'second'. Second-century. No. 304. Black beaker, burnished all over. Fabric II. Discoloured. 'S'. Second half of second century. No. 200. Fig. 7. (50) Black beaker, burnished all over. Second half of second century. Found in 1829, no. 272. (51) Pink-brown beaker, burnished on upper two-thirds of body and inside lip. Second half of second century. No. 256. (52) Black beaker, burnished all over. Fabric II. Decorated with rouletting rather than earlier barbotine. Base broken. Latesecond to early-third century. No. 254. (53) Grey beaker. Lip cracked and twisted. Definite 'second'. 'S'. Late-second to early-third century. No. 259. (54) Grey-brown beaker, burnished black away from decoration. Coloured since recovery. Late-second century. No. 255. (55) Grey beaker, burnished black on neck and above band between decoration. Coloured black since discovery. Latesecond century. No base. No number. (56) Grey beaker in fabric II. Discoloured, distorted and carries what appear to be fragments from a kiln explosion. Found 1877, no number. (57) Dark grey beaker, burnished red on shoulder and neck. Fabric II. Probably discoloured. Late second century. Found 1877, no. 236. (58) Grey beaker with red burnished shoulders. Fabric II. Misshapen, probable 'second'. Late-second to early-third century. No. 241. 213 J. MONAGHAN 60 Fig. 8. Other Beakers (Scale: ¼). 214 0 THE WOODRUFF COLLECTION Fig. 8. (59) Small grey butt-beaker. Traces of burnishing, decorated by rouletting. Fabric III. Uneven. A.D. 60-100 No. 283. (60) Small grey butt beaker. Black burnished neck. Fabric II. Discoloured. Date as 59. No. 248. ( 61) Grey-brown discoloured beaker, burnished black on neck and between bands of decoration. Fabric II. Blistered - a definite 'second'. No. 262. Mid-third-century. (62) Black beaker, burnished on exterior and inside rim. Coloured since discovery. Base missing. Found in 1878, no. 253. Early to mid-third-century. (63) Dark grey beaker. Uneven. No. 286. Early to mid-thirdcentury. (64) Orange beaker coated with white slip. Found 1866, no. 315. (65) Black beaker, light grey in section, burnished on exterior and inside lip. Fabric II. Blistered - a definite waster. Noel Hume (1954) 3.4. Found 1868, no. 196. Mid to late third-century. (66) Grey beaker, burnished all over. Fabric II. Probably inspired by samian form 33, second-century. No. 299. (67) Grey girth beaker. No base. Imitation Gallo-Belgic. No. 246. A.D. 45-60. (68) Grey indented beaker, burnished black on neck and base. Fabric III. An obvious imitation of colour-coated forms of the later third centuries, it is rather later than the main period of production at Upchurch. No. 242. Fig. 9. Carinated vessels which are heavier, thicker imitations of Continental terra nigra forms. A common find at Slayhills, wasters are found in other collections. They date from the Flavian to the early second century. (69) Carinated cup, burnished grey on the exterior but painted black since recovery. Fabric II. The design incorporates much Gallo-Belgic influence. A.D. 75-100. (70) Grey beaker, burnished black on exterior down to foot and just inside the rim. Fabric II. Later first century. No. 250. (71) Grey beaker, light grey in section. Upper half of body lightly burnished. Fabric II. Late-first century. Found 1868, no. 229. (72) Miniature in same style, dark grey. Fabric II. No. 213. (73) Black burnished beaker, rouletted and decorated by scratching lines on surface. Light grey in section. Fabric II. Mid- to late-first century. No. 29. (74) Miniature in same style. Burnished black all over. No. 282. 215 J. MONAGHAN 7􀀂 Fig. 9. Cann . ated Vessels (Scale: ¼). 216 THE WOODRUFF COLLECTION (75) Black burnished beaker, coloured since recovery. Rim twisted, possible 'second'. Later first century. No. 230. (76) Black beaker, burnished on exterior and inside rim. Fabric II. The decoration is within the 'London Ware' range and so the type represents the latest form of carinated beaker at A.D. 90-130. No. 26. (77) Black burnished beaker, coloured since discovery. Fabric II. Date as 76. No. 232. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author would like to thank Mr M.I. Moad and the staff of the Guildhall Museum, Rochester, for their interest in this paper and their invaluable assistance during its preparation. They bear no responsibility for any opinions expressed above. The work was undertaken as part of a wider investigation of the north Kent potteries being carried out at the London Institute of Archaeology and funded by the Department of Education and Science. 217