1 INTRODUCTION

Site Location

There is currently a proposal for a housing development on land off Simpson's Lane, Legge's Hill, (Fig. 1). The site in question is a 0.2ha area of open ground to the rear of Broseley Wood House; the eastern half of site is at present covered by graded spoil, and the western half is occupied by a level yard surface and concrete slab, creating a terrace on the steep hillside on the west side of King Street.

History of the Site

There is a long and well-documented tradition of clay tobacco pipemaking in Broseley. Legge's Hill probably derives its name from the Legg family, who were producing clay tobacco pipes in Broseley in the mid to late 17th century (Oswald, 1975, 32, 33, and 191) and it is likely that their pipeworks lay in close proximity to this site.

The site is, however, also known to be the site of the William Southorn & Co. Tobacco Pipeworks (the Legge's Hill pipeworks), established by William Southorn probably in 1823 (Higgins et al, 1988), and in use as a pipeworks until the 1930s. This pipeworks is thought to have been the first purpose-built clay tobacco pipe factory, making this a site of potential national importance ( Institute Research Paper No. 53).

Following the transferring of the Southorn's pipemaking business to their King Street site in the 1930s, the site appears to have been used by a gate manufacturing business, still run by a member of the Southorn family (Higgins et al, 1988). By the 1960s the site had been cleared and a new steel- framed building erected. This has also since been removed, leaving only its reinforced concrete floor on the now empty site.

Previous Work

A historical survey of William Southorn & Co.'s operations on both its Legge's Hill and King Street sites was undertaken as part of an evaluation of the latter site by the in 1987-8 (Higgins et al, 1988).

The site of the Legge's Hill pipeworks was the subject of an evaluation carried out in 1990 by students of the Ironbridge Institute as part of a training exercise (Ironbridge Institute Research Paper No. 53). The evaluation consisted of a documentary survey and the collection of surface finds from the site. Presumed industrial structures on the site were documented, largely from the evidence of 19th and 20th century maps, and a letterhead of William Southorn and Co. based on an original print of 1851-60. The surface collection of finds suggested the presence of post-medieval pottery production and late 19th century doll manufacturing in the vicinity of the site, as well as the documented clay tobacco pipe production. Archaeological Potential

The documentary work undertaken by the Ironbridge Institute has demonstrated that the site is of national and even international importance. However, the site has been affected by past development and recent earthmoving. It has therefore been deemed necessary to undertake an archaeologoical evaluation of the proposed development area prior to the determination of a planning application in order to assess the state of archaeological survival and the likely impact on it of the proposed development. 2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

A brief for the archaeological evaluation of the site was prepared by M D Watson, Senior Archaeologist, Leisure Services Department, County Council (Watson, 1992).

This evaluation is intended to provide information enabling an informed and reasonable planning decision to be reached with regard to any necessary archaeological provision for the site.

The evaluation exercise was required to locate any archaeological features or deposits and to assess their survival, quality, condition, and significance. Options for the management of the archaeological resource, including any further archaeological provision considered necessary, would then be recommended, without prejudice to the decision of the local Planning Authority or the views of its advisors.

The evaluation was carried out in February 1992 by the writer, with the assistance of local volunteers, for the Archaeology Unit of the Leisure Services Department, Shropshire County Council. 3 THE EVALUATION

The Excavations

Two trenches, each approximately 6m long by x 1.5m wide were located at points where significant ground disturbance was likely to coincide with documented industrial structures (Fig. 1). The presence of the large reinforced concrete slab (see above) restricted the positioning of trenches. The trenches were opened up by a JCB-type mechanical excavator, and were then cleaned and recorded by hand.

Trench A: Trench A was excavated to a maximum depth of 1.22m below the present ground surface, where the surface of a natural deposit of coal (Fig.2; 1115 and 1138) was encountered. Thin layers of grey (1114) and white (1113) clay overlay this coal deposit. A large rectangular cut (1112) of uncertain date had been made into these deposits and was then backfilled and sealed with massive dumps of mixed yellow, white, and grey clay and cinders (1108-11 and 1131-37). Of these, layer 1110 produced fragments of sagger, and layer 1137 a fragment of red earthenware with an internal black glaze and a small fragment of manganese mottled ware, suggesting a possible late 17th century date for these deposits.

At the extreme northern end of the trench, these fills were cut by a pit (1107), whose primary fill was a deposit of cinders (1106) containing a large quantity of pottery wasters and some kiln furniture. The pottery was all of a single type, consisting of a hard, buff fabric with a reddish brown slip and a brown, iron-rich glaze. The bases of a number of the vessels bore a roughly incised letter 'A'. The pottery had all been overfired, causing the glaze to blister and run. The forms represented included tankards, cups, and chamber pots. The wasters were of a type of pottery dateable to c.1680-1720 and classed as type Ad(iii) in the Museum's pottery typology (Jones, 1988)

The archaeological sequence then appeared to have been considerably truncated by recent disturbance. A service trench carrying a tin pipe of about 0.15m diameter was cut to a depth of about 0.7m from north to south and was revealed in the western section of the trench. The eastern section showed that the site had been cleared at a depth of 0.4m below the present ground surface. A reinforced concrete platform 0.1m thick was laid over a rubble hardcore 0.3m thick over the western part of the site (Trench A ran alongside the eastern edge of this platform). H-section steel uprights set in concrete surrounds were positioned at approximately 5m intervals along the edge of the platform. These uprights had been cut off at ground level. A yard surface comprising about 0.4m depth of grey stone chippings (1102) covered the eastern part of the site.

Trench B: A similar sequence was observed in Trench B. The earliest deposit encountered here was a layer of yellow clay (Fig. 3; 1124). This was at first thought to be the natural subsoil, but on cleaning, the presence of occasional fragments of saggar within the clay showed this was not the case. The yellow clay layer sloped down to the west considerably at the western edge of the trench. It may be that the clay was following the slope of the underlying ground surface, or perhaps that it had been cut by a large, shallow pit. The presence of the concrete slab limited the wesern extent of Trench B and prevented clarification of this point. Whichever, a sequence of deposits subsequently built up against the clay at the western end of the trench. The earliest of these was a layer of greyish brown silty sand (1130) containing a large proportion of crushed, fired clay, giving the layer a reddish colour. This layer also produced fragments of saggar, a piece of firebrick, fragments of what may be kiln lining, and two clay pipe bowls of early 18th century type, one with a conjoining fragment of stem bearing the maker's mark of Sam Roden. This deposit almost certainly represents debris and waste from a pipe kiln. It was sealed by a layer of cinders 0.1m thick (1129) and this by a layer of light grey clay (1128) and grey clay (1145). These in turn were sealed by a deposit of charcoal and cinders (1125) up to 0.8m deep.

The surface of this charcoal layer and the yellow clay were both cut by a number of features. With the exception of the cut for the tin pipe, which was seen at the extreme western end of the trench, these cuts had been so truncated by later site clearance that only the bases of these features remained (1139; 1141; 1123). The site clearance was evidenced by a spread of rubbly greyish clay (1121) over which was laid the hardcore (1120) and reinforced concrete platform (1119) and the grey stone chipping yard surface (1118). A recent test-pit (1117) was revealed in the south facing section of this trench.

Conclusions

No trace of industrial structures or deposits relating to the 19th century pipeworks were encountered in the evaluation trenches. In part at least this may be due to the various earthmoving operations and landscaping activities carried out on the site in recent times. Furthermore, the documentary evidence collected by the Ironbridge Institute would seem to indicate that the early 19th C structures occupied the southern part of site, and presumably lay to the south of the area of the proposed building plots. The only evidence relating to the Southorn Co.'s pipeworks recovered during the period of the evaluation were a quantity of fragments of clay pipe bearing Southorn maker's stamps and a number of dolls' limbs manufactured from pipeclay within an unstratified surface collection made during the course of the evaluation.

However, in situ traces of past industrial activity on the site were revealed by the evaluation. The earliest such activity, as suggested by the rectangular pit seen in Trench A, may have been open cast coal mining. No precise date for the cutting of the pit was established, although material recovered from its backfilling suggests a date early in the early post-medieval period (perhaps mid to late 17th century).

Firm evidence of post-medieval pottery production on or in very close proximity to this site was provided by the waster pit containing the dark brown glazed pottery wasters. To date, this is the only direct evidence for the local production of brown wares in the late 17th/early 18th centuries. Moreover, although post-medieval pottery wasters have been recovered from a number of sites from this area (Higgins, 1984) - some were identified amongst the surface collection on this particular site during the 1990 evaluation - it is believed that this is also the first time such a stratified group of post-medieval pottery waster material has been recovered from the Ironbridge Gorge area.

A number of fragments of clay tobacco pipe bearing the Sam Roden maker's stamp were recovered from the site within the unstratified surface collection made during the 1990 evaluation (Ironbridge Institute Research Paper No. 53). The bowls recovered during the current evaluation from the waste deposit 1130 (see above, p.5) were of a Broseley type of c1720-40 (Oswald, 1975, p.50, 7a), a date confirmed by the conjoining fragment of stem with the mark of Sam Roden, who is documented as a Broseley pipemaker operating in the early 18th century (Oswald, 1975, p.191). The association of these pipe fragments with the kiln debris suggests that the waste deposit from which they came probably derives from pipe production on or near this site. Together with the place-name evidence for the Legg family pipemaking business (see above, p.1), the indications are that this industry was well established in this immediate vicinity a good hundred years before William Southorn founded his factory in 1823. The dating of the Samuel Roden pipe fragments to the early 18th centuries gives a rough chronological contemporaneity for this industry to the pottery production evidenced above. Given the domestic nature of clay tobacco pipe production at this time, it is quite possible that both activities were being carried out on the same site at the same time.

Several fragments of clay tobacco pipe bearing Southern Co. makers stamps were identified within the surface collection made on the site during the course of the evaluation. However, the material from which this collection derived had all been recently deposited during the landscaping of the site, and is of little significance compared with the documentary evidence available for the Southorn Co.'s activities.

Perhaps of more interest was the inclusion of doll limbs manufactured from pipeclay within this surface collection. The presence of these artifacts on the site had already been noted by the 1990 evaluation (Ironbridge Institute Research Paper No. 53). However, the current evaluation recovered both right and left limbs, discounting the suggestion that only right-hand limbs were manufactured (op. cit., p.7). At least two sizes of doll were represented within the collection. Stylistically, a date in the late 19th or very early 20th centuries is suggested for the production of these dolls, which is likely to have been a sideline to the main pipe manufacturing business.

It would appear then that the recent site clearances have removed most traces of the 19th and early 20th century industrial occupation of the site within the area of the evaluation. The possibility remains, however, that beneath the modern concrete slab on the western part of the site, remains of this period may survive better, though at a depth of at least 0.4m below the present ground surface. The ground at the western edge of the site has been built up considerably to produce the present terrace, and this may have had the effect burying and therefore preserving and protecting such features and deposits.

Archaeological features and deposits of earlier date, however, have survived, and were encountered at a depth of about 0.4m below the present ground surface within the area of the evaluation. These deposits were the waste by- products associated with industrial activities that were taking place at the time when the Ironbridge Gorge area was emerging as one of the, if not the, foremost industrial centres in the country. Such waste deposits can provide important evidence as to the scale, date and development of their associated industries, and are therefore a valuable part of the archaeological resource.

Whilst the main focus of the industrial activities evidenced during the evaluation is likely to have located on the southern part of the site, outside the area of the proposed building plots, the siting of service trenches associated with the proposed development may well have implications for any surviving archaeological deposits here. 4 RECOMMENDATIONS

The evaluation has demonstrated that the northern part of the proposed development site where the new buildings are to be located has already suffered seriously from previous ground disturbance works. Furthermore, the documented extent of the 19th century pipeworks lies largely outside the area of the proposed building plots.

Nevertheless, archaeologically significant deposits were encountered in the area of the proposed building plots. Although these deposits are not considered of such importance as to preclude any development of the site, they are, however, of sufficient archaeological importance as to merit preservation by record in the event of their disturbance or destruction.

If ground disturbance associated with the proposed development can be limited to a maximum depth of 0.4m below the present ground surface, then it is unlikely that this would cause significant disturbance to the archaeological deposits. In such an event it is considered that a watching brief during groundworks would be sufficient so long as adequate provision was made for the archaeological recording and sampling of any archaeologically significant features and deposits that were encountered.

If, however, ground disturbance associated with construction work was to exceed a depth of 0.4m below the present ground surface, then provision should be made for the archaeological excavation, sampling, and recording of the affected areas in order to preserve by record these features and deposits prior to their destruction.

The cutting of service trenches and other ancillary groundworks associated with the proposed development also has implications for the archaeology of the site. Beyond the area of the building plots and in particular to their south where remains of industrial structures of the 19th century pipeworks may still survive, groundworks, including service trenches, should wherever possible be restricted to a maximum depth of 0.4m. If they were to exceed this depth, then the areas in question should be archaeologically excavated.

H R Hannaford March 1992 5 REFERENCES

Higgins, D A, 1984, in West Midlands Archaeology 27, pp.55-6

Higgins, D A, Morriss, "The : An R, and Trueman, M, 1988 Archaeological and Historical Evaluation" Ironbridge Institute Research Paper No. 27

Jones, A, 1988, " Finds Typologies: Pottery I The Coarse Earthenwares" Ironbridge Archaeological Series No. 14, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Archaeology Unit

Oswald, A, 1975, "Clay Pipes for the Archaeologist" British Archaeological Reports No. 14

Students of the "Legge's Hill Pipeworks, Broseley. An Ironbridge Institute Archaeological Evaluation" Ironbridge Institute Research Paper No. 53

Watson, M, 1992 "Brief for an Archaeological Evaluation at Legge's Hill, Broseley, Shropshire", Shropshire County Council 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The writer would like to thank William Fletcher and Cate Moogan (volunteers) for their work on site and in processing the finds from the excavations, and to Mike Watson for editing the report. AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION AT

LEGGE'S HILL, BROSELEY,

SHROPSHIRE by

H R Hannaford

A Report for

JOHN KING

THE ARCHAEOLOGY UNIT, LEISURE SERVICES DEPARTMENT, SHROPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Report No. 12 CONTENTS

Page No.

1 INTRODUCTION 1

2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 3

3 THE EVALUATION 4

4 RECOMMENDATIONS 10

5 REFERENCES 12

6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 13

ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1: Site and trench location plan, showing approximate extent of late 19th century industrial buildings

Fig. 2: Trench A: Plan and west facing section

Fig. 3: Trench B: North and south facing sections