6095 ECQ.Pdf

Transactions 93 33 The analysis of ·some metal objects from Weoley Castle· .. ... •. , Roger Brownsword, Ernest Pittand David Symons CONTENTS ILLUSTRATIONS Introduction 34 List of figures Catalogue 34 Conclusions 38 Fig. 1 Weoley Castle metalwork. Pewter flatware: . a. WC 301 40 b. WC 305 40 . c. WC 307 40 d. WC 306 40 Fig. 2 Weoley Castle metalwork. Pewter flatware, buckle, bottle and spoon: a. WC 30341 b. WC 302 41 ·c. WC 309 41 d. WC 304 41 e. WC 310 41 f. WC 311 · 41 . g. WC 334 41 Fig. 3 Weoley Castle metalwork. Copper-alloy jugs, spur, steelyard weight and cauldron fragments: a. WC 379 42 b. WC 324 42 c. WC 325 42 d. WC 348 .. 42 e. WC 423 42 f. WC 489 · 42 g. WC 490 42 .. List of tables . :, '. ' Table 1 Alloy compositions of Weoley Castle pewter objects 39 Table 2 Alloy compositions of Weoley Castle copper and copper alloy objects 39 A grant from the Council for British Archaeology towards the cost of publication is gratefully acknowledged Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society for 1983 - 4, volume 93 • I 34 Transac'tions 93 INTRODUCTION the manor to John Sutton, Lord Dudley. Three years later he also pardoned Sir William Berkeley and Weoley Castle is a moated site lying some four miles guaranteed the return of his estates after Jasper south-west of the centre of Birmingham. It occupies Tudor's death. Despite this confusion it seems that a low-lying site in the valley of the Stonehouse or the Lords Dudley were generally in possession of ,': ,' . Bourne Brook with low hills rising to north and. Weoley and in 1531 Edward, Lord Dudley, sold it south of the castle site. The stream originally fed ... .., for 1200 marks (£800) to Richard Jervoise, a London the moat but its course was altered in 1792, during merchant. the construction of the Dudley Canal; and it was diverted into a new sewer in the 1930s when the It is difficult to say when Weoley was last inhabited. .... \ '," Weoley Castle Corporation Housing Estate was Excavations revealed traces of what was interpreted being developed (Bark 1934). In consequence the as a rough, agricultural structure in use until c 1600 moat is now completely dry. (Oswald 1962, 69 - 70) but the J ervoise family seem never to have lived there. By the middle of the, 17th ' For most of the medieval period Weoley Castle wa~ century it is described as 'a ruyned castell' (Pears on the manorial centre for the manor of Northfield 1902, 56 - 60). ' , Weoley, which also included the sub-manors of Selly . and Middleton. A little has already been published The site of the castle has been the subject of two on the history of the castle 1 but it is still difficult periods of excavation. Initial work took place on the to give an authoritative account of more than the site between 1932 and 1936. This was aimed at main outlines of its development. clearing out the moat and revealing the lines of the ,', " stone walls of the latest phase of the castle. Only , At the time of the Domesday Survey, Weoley formed two arms of the moat still retained water, the other part of the estates of William FitzAnsculf, a leading two having been filled in earlier. The water was figure in the kingdom whose barony was centred on drained off to facilitate excavation and the moat has Dudley. On current evidence it is impossible to say remained dry ever since. It is unfortunate that no whether the site at Weoley was occupied at that full account of this work was ever published and period or not, the earliest remains so far fOllnd almost all records of it were destroyed by bombing dating to the 12th century. The Barony of Dudley during the war (Bark 1934; Oswald 1962, 61). passed via heiresses first to the Paganels and then, . at the close of the 12th century, to the de Somery From 1955 to 1962 , further excavations were ' family. In 1264, Roger I de Somery received a royal conducted by Adrian Oswald, the Keeper of licence to fortify his manors of Dudley and Weoley. 2 Archaeology at Birmingham City Museum and Art Roger I died in 1273 and there is no mention of a Gallery. They examined parts of the moat and areas castle at Weoley on his death, so it seems unlikely of the platform. It was this work .th~t proved t~e that building work had begun by then (Willis Bund. existence of the earlier phases of bUlldlOg on the SIte (ed.) 1894'-1909, 16-18). By 1291, however, when (Oswald 1962,61-85). Among the most spectacular , his son Roger 11 died, the site was occupied by a , finds were the waterlogged timbers of an early 13th 'capital messuage' (idem. 36). The remains visible century wooden kitchen, which was connected to the today, therefore, are substantially the work of Roger contemporary stone hall by a long wooden service 11 and of his son John. At this time the platform corridor (Oswald 1962 - 3). Part of this timberwork ' of the earlier moat was substantially enlarged and was preserved and is now on display in the site ' raised in height and it was surrounded by a carefully museum. An interim report on some of this work built stone wall. It is unfortunately difficult to trace was published in the Transactions for 1962 and an the details of the various additions and alterations article on the wooden kitchen appeared in Medieval , , made over the next two centuries, although it is clear Archaeology for the same year (Oswald 1962; '. that these occurred (Oswald 1962, 70). 1962 - 3) . No full report has appeared and the ' surviving documentation is not as complete as one John de Somery died in 1322 and the barony was would wish. In these circumstances it is difficult to ' divided between his two sisters and co-heiresses, provide much useful information on the provenances Margaret and Joan. Joan, the widow of Thomas de of the items published here. Botetourt, received Weoley . and used it as her -,;', "" principal residence. On the death of John de '. ;.. ..: ... Botetourt in 1386, the estates passed to his grand daughter Joyce, the wife of Sir Hugh Burnell. He CATALOGUE held them until his death in 1419, when a dispute arose over the inheritance. An eventual settlement In this section the main items of metalwork made of the dispute gave Weoley and certain other manors in copper- or tin-alloy are described, illustrate~ ,and to Sir Maurice Berkeley, John de Botetourt's discussed. Analytical data on the alloy composItIOns descendant. In 1485 Maurice's son, William, was used are given and the discussion is based on a attainted and lost his estates after the battle of consideration of these data along with stylistic Bosworth. In the following year Henry VII granted analysis and such archaeological information on the Weoley to his uncle, Jasper Tudor·, and also sold objects as is available. Transactions 93 35 Pewter objects: Flatware - saucers and plates. 3 narrow-rimmed, angled-bead flatware of this approximate size were of this period in the rim The collection of nine items appears to contain fragment found in a 14th century context at the certain groups recognizable on the basis of close Augustinian Friary site at Leicester (Melior & Pearce . similarities of dimensions and stylistic features or 1981,130, fig 45, 1).4 This has the same angled-bead . :. , " of pewter composition or of both; the discussion is rim and high quality alloy as the Weoley Castle .. ' , -, ' " .., conducted on this basis: plates. Saucer: WC305 (Fig 1). Found in the pre-war Saucers: WC306 and 309 (Figs 1 & 2). Both saucers excavations; no details of its discovery survive. were found in the pre-war excavations; no details Although in a poor state of preservation, this item of their discovery survive. These items and WC305 . reveals certain unusual stylistic features. It has a rim are similar although not identical. The main in which the outer edge is raised above the general distinction of WC306 and 309 from all the other . rim level to form an angled-bead reinforcement; on WeoleyCastle flatware is the low quality of the most pewter, the reinforcement bead is below the. -,,:, .>~ pewter used, their lead contents being in excess of ... .. rim (Michaelis 1971, 24, fig 1). The saucer has a 20%. From the evidence available on the lead struck mark, apparently the letter P, on the upper · - contents of extant items of flatware (Brownsword - rim. & Pitt 1984) it appears that the vast majority had low or very low lead levels, suggesting that the In both the rim form and struck mark of WC305 control exercised by the Pewterers' Company was there is a remarkably fortunate parallel with the to a degree effective. However, the effectiveness' .: features of a very similar saucer excavated in . almost certainly varied with time and place; London- ' Southampton (Platt & Coleman-Smith 1975,250 & made pewter was most likely to be of high quality fig 239). This item has a secure contextual date late and provincial pewter to be of inferior quality. In in the 13th century (c 1290). The two saucers are very the light of these observations the saucers WC306 ... close in form and size (diameters 127 and 130mm), and 309 would therefore appear to be provincial in their high quality alloy composition and in the items, probably of the late 15th or early 16th general features of the struck letter. It may therefore centuries, a period during which pewter manufacture not be impossible that they had a common origin, had developed in provincial towns but had not come the slight differences in dimensions being accounted properly under the control of the London-based for by the difficulties of accurate measurement on Company searchers.

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