Where was Swaledale’s local pottery made in the medieval period? The Swaledale Big Dig, managed by the local Swaledale & Arkengarthdale Archaeology Group (SWAAG) recovered large amounts of locally-made medieval and post-medieval pottery 1 . My friend Jocelyn Campbell, a potter, and member of the local archaeology and history groups posed the question above. Perhaps field names as recorded in the tithe map of the 1840s might give a clue. The tithe apportionment for the whole of Swaledale & Arkengarthdale has been transcribed by members of the Swaledale & Arkengarthdale Local History Group and is available on the SWAAG website 2 . The keyword search facility yields 14 entries containing the word “kiln”, all in the Reeth township. Nine of these refer to “Limekiln”; five refer to “kiln croft”. It is possible that these latter five refer to pottery kilns. 1 The full report of the Big Dig is on the SWAAG website at https://swaag.org/HLF/swaledale_big_dig2.php 2 See at https://www.swaag.org/TitheApportionmentDb/TithesMenu.php
Transcript
Where was Swaledale’s local pottery made in the medieval period?
The Swaledale Big Dig, managed by the local Swaledale & Arkengarthdale Archaeology Group (SWAAG) recovered large amounts of locally-made medieval and post-medieval pottery1.
My friend Jocelyn Campbell, a potter, and member of the local archaeology and history groups posed the question above.
Perhaps field names as recorded in the tithe map of the 1840s might give a clue.
The tithe apportionment for the whole of Swaledale & Arkengarthdale has been transcribed by members of the Swaledale & Arkengarthdale Local History Group and is available on the SWAAG website2.
The keyword search facility yields 14 entries containing the word “kiln”, all in the Reeth township. Nine of these refer to “Limekiln”; five refer to “kiln croft”. It is possible that these latter five refer to pottery kilns.
Looking more closely at these five, two are located near Rawcroft, in Arkengarthdale between Reeth and Langthwaite. The other three are located on the outskirts of Healaugh.
The Healaugh references are to Kiln Croft, Tithe Plan number 211, High Kiln Croft, number 214, Low Kiln Croft, number 215. These can be identified on the extract from the Tithe Map, below.
1 The full report of the Big Dig is on the SWAAG website at https://swaag.org/HLF/swaledale_big_dig2.php 2 See at https://www.swaag.org/TitheApportionmentDb/TithesMenu.php
It is possible that these three references are to a limekiln, once located in one or more of these fields. This seems unlikely as there does not seem to be a source of lime in the immediate vicinity thus requiring limestone to be transported from obvious sources above Healaugh.
Thus, it seems quite likely that there was once a kiln other than a limekiln in this vicinity. There is no tradition of brickmaking in Swaledale so a pottery kiln seems the most plausible.
The other two references in the Swaledale Tithes refer to two fields in the vicinity of East and West Rawcoft on the West bank of the Arkle Beck; see below. This seems to be a most unlikely place for a limekiln as the obvious sources of limestone are on the other side of the beck.
Thus, it seems quite likely that there was once a pottery kiln in this vicinity.
Conclusion
An analysis of the 19th century tithe maps and apportionment suggests that local medieval and post medieval pottery might well have been manufactured at two locations in Swaledale, one on the Eastern outskirts of Healaugh, the other near Rawcroft between Reeth and Langthwaite.
