Durham E-Theses Luminescence Dating of Medieval and Early Modern Brickwork GURLING, THOMAS How to cite: GURLING, THOMAS (2009) Luminescence Dating of Medieval and Early Modern Brickwork, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/180/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Luminescence Dating of Medieval and Early Modern Brickwork Thomas Gurling Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Archaeology University of Durham 2009 ‘I was not born with knowledge but, being fond of antiquity, I am quick to seek it’ -Confucius ‘Most fatt, frutefull and full of profitable things exceeding (as farr as I can finde) anie other shire for the general comodeties, and the plentie, this shire seemeth to me to deserve this title of the Englishe Goshen, the fattest of the Lande; comparable to Palestina, that flowed with milke and hunneye’. -John Norden (16 th century topographer writing of Essex) ABSTRACT LUMINESCENCE DATING OF MEDIEVAL BRICKWORK Thomas Gurling Essex is a county rich in significant historic brickwork spanning the medieval period. A great deal of earlier archaeological study has focused on the development and use of brick during this period, providing a framework of understanding as to how this material was employed in Essex through the medieval period. However, the common approaches adopted to date historic brick have several caveats that can potentially limit the amount of information they can provide. This presented an opportunity to apply the scientific dating technique of optically stimulated luminescence in order to derive absolute dates for important medieval brick sites in Essex. This in turn would allow this framework of understanding surrounding medieval brick to be critically examined and revised where necessary. A series of important brick buildings that spanned the 11 th through to the 16 th century were selected for inclusion in this thesis. The buildings were studied from an archaeological perspective, deriving likely dates for their erection and development, before samples of the brickwork were taken. These were subsequently dated by luminescence. In light of the luminescence dates, the archaeological evaluations of the buildings were reviewed and revised where necessary. The results have shown that medieval brick was introduced much earlier than had previously been suspected. This has refuted the long held notion that the Cistercians were responsible for introducing brick in the 12 th century and has led to suggestions of a small scale, late Saxon brick industry. It was also apparent that, whilst being manufactured, brick was also being re-used to a large extent throughout the medieval period, especially in the 16 th century. Whilst this is likely to be largely due to practical motivational factors, other esoteric social aspects are also likely to have played a role, such as the Great Rebuilding. i DECLARATION No part of this thesis has been submitted for a previous degree and no part has been previously published. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. ii CONTENTS Abstract..............................................................................................................................................i Declaration........................................................................................................................................ii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................viii List of Tables .................................................................................................................................xiii Abbreviations.................................................................................................................................xiv Acknowledgements.........................................................................................................................xv 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................1 1.1: HISTORIC BRICK STUDIES..............................................................................................2 1.2: AIMS OF THIS STUDY.......................................................................................................4 1.3: OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................................4 1.3.1: Knowledge of the English medieval brick industry.......................................................4 1.3.2: Knowledge of the Essex medieval brick industry..........................................................4 1.3.3: Production of construction sequences for select buildings ............................................5 1.3.4: Development of standard OSL dating proceedure.........................................................5 1.3.5: Derivation of OSL dates ................................................................................................5 1.3.6: Evaluation of the OSL dates..........................................................................................5 1.4: METHODOLOGICAL OUTLINE .......................................................................................5 1.4.1: Study area selection.......................................................................................................5 1.4.2: Building selection and analysis .....................................................................................7 1.4.3: Sample collection and analysis......................................................................................7 1.4.4: Comparitive evaluation of the buildings........................................................................7 1.4.5: Evaluation of the use of medieval brick in Essex..........................................................8 1.4: THESIS OUTLINE...............................................................................................................8 2: THE STUDY OF BRICK IN LATE MEDIEVAL BUILDINGS...............................................10 2.1: THE USE OF BRICK IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND ..........................................................10 2.1.1: The production and use of brick from the 5 th to 12 th century.......................................10 2.1.2: The production and use of brick from the 12 th to the 13 th century...............................16 2.1.3: The production and use of brick from the late 13 th to the 14 th century ........................21 2.1.4: The production and use of brick during the 15 th century .............................................24 2.1.5: The production and use of brick during the 16 th century .............................................29 2.2: CURRENT APPROACHES TO DATING MEDIEVAL BRICKWORK..........................34 2.2.1: Comparison to brick typologies...................................................................................34 2.2.2: Documentary evidence ................................................................................................35 2.2.3: Architectural analysis ..................................................................................................36 2.2.4: Scientific dating methods ............................................................................................37 2.3: APPLICATIONS OF LUMINESCENCE IN DATING HISTORIC BRICK.....................39 2.4: HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL AND TUDOR BRICK IN ESSEX........................................42 2.4.1: The production and use of brick in Essex from the 5 th to 12 th century ........................42 iii 2.4.2: The production and use of brick in Essex from the 12 th to 13 th century ......................43 2.4.3: The production and use of brick in Essex from the late 13 th to 14 th century................45 2.4.4: The production and use of brick in Essex during the 15 th century...............................50 2.4.5: The production and use of brick in Essex during the 16 th century...............................52 2.5: CURRENT APPROACHES TO DATING MEDIEVAL BRICK IN ESSEX....................56 2.5.1: Brick typology .............................................................................................................56 2.5.2: Documentary sources ..................................................................................................57 2.5.3: Architectural analysis ..................................................................................................58 2.5.4: Scientific dating methods ............................................................................................59 2.5.5: