28 Traiisactions of the 



The ornaments are, as in other remains of this period, incised or 

 indented lines. 



During the Eomano-British period, although most of the finer 

 vessels used in England were imported by that conquering people, 

 a large variety of wares were made of native clays in different 

 districts which they inhabited. At this time, although it is almost 

 certain that wares of some kind were made in Staffordshire, there 

 is no positive evidence of such being the case. In the adjoining 

 county of Salop a considerable pottery existed, from which fact 

 we may gather that Staffordshire clays were well known to the 

 Romans. Again, the fact that Chesterton, by Newcastle-under- 

 Lyne, was a Roman settlement, and a Roman road traversed 

 the district of the present potteries, tends to prove the truth of 

 the above statement. There is every reason for supposing that at 

 least some of the finer kinds of red ware, commonly known as 

 ' English Samian,' were laside in Staffordshire. At any rate, that 

 clay would produce that ware, and many remains of it have from 

 time to time been found in the district. 



At "Welton, and in many other parts of Staffordshire, Romano- 

 British pottery has often been found, and there are reasons for 

 believing that some was manufactured in the district. 



The pottery of the Anglo-Saxon period consists almost entirely 

 of cinerary urns, the form of which is somewhat peculiar. Instead 

 of being wide at the mouth, like the Celtic urns, they are con- 

 tracted, and have a kind of neck instead of an overhanging lip or 

 rim. The pottery of this period is usually of a dark-coloured clay, 

 sometimes nearly black, at others dark brown, and occasionally 

 of a slate or greenish tint. The vessels appear to be hand-made, 

 and are tolerably well baked. The ornaments usually consist of 

 encircling incised lines, in bands or otherwise, and vertical or zig- 

 zag lines arranged in a variety of ways, and not unfrequently knobs 

 or protuberances are to be seen on the urns. Sometimes, also, 

 they present evident attempts at copying the Roman egg-and- 

 tongue ornament. 



The marked feature of the pottery of this period is the 

 frequency of small punctured ornaments, introduced along with 

 the lines and bands with very good effect. These ornaments 

 were evidently by the end of a stick cut and notched across in 

 different directions, so as to produce crosses and other patterns. 

 This novel and only mode of decorating this pottery will be best 

 shown by this illustration. These notched stick-punches were 

 used for pressing into the pliant clay. 



Among the Anglo-Saxons the bowls were principally of metal 

 or wood, generally ash, and the drinking vessels of horn and 

 glass. The fact of these two essentials being made of wood or 



