8.0 Specialists' Reports 8.1 Ceramics Report
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8.0 Specialists’ Reports 8.1 Ceramics Report – Rowan Ward 8.2 Glass Report – Jeanne Harris 8.3 Miscellaneous, Metals and Building Materials – Robyn Stocks 8.4 Pollen Report – Mike Macphail Section 8.1: Ceramics Section 8.1: Ceramics CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background.......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Aims of Report..................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Methodology........................................................................................................................ 2 1.4 Authorship ........................................................................................................................... 3 1.5 List of Illustrations............................................................................................................... 3 1.6 List of Tables ....................................................................................................................... 3 2.0 Discussion / Overview ............................................................................................................ 5 2.1 Discussion/ Overview .......................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Conjoins............................................................................................................................... 7 3.0 Analysis of Areas A and B ..................................................................................................... 9 3.1 Area A.................................................................................................................................. 9 3.2 Area B................................................................................................................................ 15 4.0 Creamware............................................................................................................................ 50 4.1 Creamware......................................................................................................................... 50 5.0 Chinese Ceramics ................................................................................................................. 53 5.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................ 53 5.2 “Nanking” and “Canton” Patterns ..................................................................................... 54 6.0 Lead-glazed Pottery .............................................................................................................60 6.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................ 60 6.2 Lead-glazed Wares on Site ................................................................................................ 60 6.3 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 68 7.0 Ceramic Patterns.................................................................................................................. 69 7.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................ 69 8.0 Report Conclusion................................................................................................................ 73 8.1 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 73 9.0 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 77 9.1 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 77 Appendix 1: Lead-Glazed and Slipped Pottery Type Series ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Casey & Lowe 109—113 George Street, Parramatta Archaeological Investigation Section 8.1: Ceramics Ceramics Report for 109-113 George Street, Parramatta 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background1 The excavation at 109 to 113 George Street, Parramatta, was located on the southern side of George Street and was bounded by Union Street at the rear southern side and by Argus Lane on its eastern side. Prior to the archaeological excavation taking place a 1960s two-storey brick building with below ground parking space was located at 109 George Street, with the former 1960s RTA building located at 113 George Street. The construction of the underground parking space at 109 George Street was believed to have destroyed any archaeology at this location and because of this the excavation focused solely on the property of 113 George Street. The transfer of a 14-year lease on a George Street site by Governor John Hunter to the Reverend Rowland Hassall was made on 18 October 1799. On this same day another lease was made to Charles Smith for land immediately adjacent to Hassall’s property. On 24 May 1803 Smith sold his lease to Hassall. Also in 1803, on 1 September, another 14-year lease was made for land within the study area to an Obediah Ikin. On 29 August 1805 Ikin sold his land to Hassall. By c1804 Rowland Hassall had built a house on George Street, with bricks from England shipped out as ballast. The house comprised 13 rooms, an attic and a cellar. Outbuildings included a kitchen, a dairy and a schoolroom. Reverend Hassall had arrived in the colony via Tahiti, where he had been a missionary with the London Missionary Society. Upon arrival in New South Wales in 1798 he continued to preach, as well at to acquire land and to hold a number of government posts. Hassall preached from his Parramatta home, holding services in a barn. The Hassall house also became a base for visiting missionaries of the London Missionary Society and in 1813 his son, Thomas Hassall, opened the very first Sunday school in Australia. A printing press also operated from these premises, producing various religious tracts. Reverend Rowland Hassall died on 31 August 1820, leaving his three combined parcels of leased land to his wife Elizabeth, and then to his son Thomas, upon her death. Rowland’s will mentioned the house with garden, yard, buildings, premises and paddocks. The Hassall family continued to hold the property over a number of decades, with the family selling the land by auction on 30 September 1882. In 1884 all the buildings were demolished and the land subdivided into various allotments. Houses were built along the George Street and Union Street frontages post 1895. In the 1960s the RTA building was erected at 113 George Street. Although the site was originally expected to have a high degree of archaeological potential, further investigation of the area prior to excavation revealed this to be unlikely. The foundations to the RTA building had required the use of strip footings to provide stability on the sandy soil and these had a greater impact than typical pier footings. There were also numerous intermediary footings. In- ground petrol tanks were also located in three areas in the southeastern area of the site. Additional contamination of the southeast corner was found existing in 3 to 4 metres of fill, where the area appeared to have been used as a later rubbish dump. 1 Background information regarding the site comes from Casey & Lowe:2003 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Casey & Lowe 109—113 George Street, Parramatta Archaeological Investigation 2 Section 8.1: Ceramics Archaeological testing proved that the historic remains had been considerably disturbed and that the more substantial remains had been removed from site. Testing indicated that the Hassall house had been mostly removed at its demolition and the construction of the RTA building in the 1960s had caused further destruction. Overall the site evidenced considerable twentieth century disturbance. The excavation site was divided into two areas, Area A was the northern half of the site and Area B was the southern half of the site.2 Area A featured structural remains whereas Area B featured a number of pits. Area A featured the remains of five structures. These were the cellar of the c1804 Hassall house; a brick well; a small rectangular timber structure; a mostly robbed brick building, and a brick structure - possibly a furnace - next to a large rectangular building with a surviving partial chimney base. Only the lowest course of the c1804 cellar walling and part of the stone floor paving was found as evidence of the 13-roomed Hassall house. The small rectangular timber structure was evidenced by postholes. It also featured a large circular feature backfilled with sterile fill. The mostly robbed brick building featured a single course of surviving wall and part of a box drain in the centre - was this the dairy? The well was located between the house and the previously mentioned robbed brick building. The bricks found in the well and as part of the remnant out buildings were flat sandstocks, supporting an early construction date. The well would have played an important role in the house’s infrastructure. The possible flue structure was located