Last week I was thrilled when I was given permission to do some exploratory digging in a garden near to an area I’d researched. Knocking on the door was a bit nerve wracking but I’d practised what I wanted to say and I thought it will get easier with time. The were happy and asked if I could bring back any interesting finds. So yesterday, armed with my new £3.50 bucket, £2 builders gloves and some loaned waders, I trekked to my spot and spent 3 hours on the river bank. I put all the knowledge I’d learned from Edward Fletcher’s book to practise- e.g. where to look, what digging techniques to follow and how to clean whatever you find. The location was really tough – it was in a river bank that was hard to get to, awkward and steep. I found it tiring working at waist level, arms raised above my shoulders scraping back the surface to see what I could find. I tried to get up onto the river bank but the steepness made it feel like a terrible idea so I retreated where it was safer to work from – at water level. It was a really peaceful location hearing the ambling water and the birdsong. At the end of my small stint, I was excited but completely knackered so have decided to pace myself and revisit at a later time.
The majority of what I found was broken glass, and fragments of things, but as a responsible digger, I made sure to remove everything and not leave it on the surface. The general advice I’ve read on forums was that leaving a mess was more reason to be not allowed back. Fragments of white china stand out clearer than most of the rubbish I’ve seen among leaves and, to my surprise a few of the fragments I kept had some writing on which was awesome.
The hoard
As you can see – everything is completely caked in mud, and I finished cleaning them late into the evening. What I’m coming to realise is there is a slim chance this dump has intact bottles, but I did find a completely intact jar and bottle.
( M ) SUPER
There’s currently an item for sale on eBay for a bottle with an M Super written on it. I haven’t been able to find out more yet. The M letter is inside a club / 3 leaf clover pattern.
Table-spoons medicine bottle
These pharmacy bottles were marked with lines and the words embossed on the side as measurements . You can see LE – SP and then the lines below which is Table – Spoons, the lines being measuring lines.
Oyster? shells
At first I thought they were bit of cement or something but later found them to be what I think are oyster shells – potentially freshwater because they’re quite flat.
Teapot lid
This sweet teapot lid came out upside down and I really like it. You can see the steam hole. Not sure where the rest is – perhaps it’s still in the ground.
Unidentified bottle
I love finding lettering on any finds. It adds a real connection to the past for me and brings it alive. It also helps when researching as I can search for the visible lettering – ER and CO and INGTO to see what It could be. That said, I’ve had no luck finding where this is from.
Star Find ⭐️
Since this is my third post on the subject of bottle digging, I wanted to introduce the idea of the star find– that is; the best find of the dig and I want to present my first Marmalade jar (fragment):
Frank Coopers “Oxford” Seville Marmalade stone jar.
There are a load of pictures of this online but my find is one without the Royal warrant “by appointment” which was received in 1913. Since the royal warrant is still on modern jars, this would date my find to pre-1913.
I love this little piece and have seen a few pictures on them so knew straight away what it was. The rust stains are a nice touch and give it a complementary colour combination: grey, off-white and rusty orange. Might use that in a future design scheme 🙂
I only saw the Copper Oxford lettering when cleaning in the evening as it was covered in mud. I saw the “AND GOLD MEDALS” writing when out digging and thought “What is that!??” and that I’d find out later. One of the better reasons to cleanup everything as you never know what you’ll find.
Stone jar and matching? lid
I was so excited to find this mammoth stone jar in tact, in the ground. I was unearthing it thinking what the heck is this. And then I found the lid, but am not convinced that they go together:
There’s no writing or marks on it sadly, so it’s just a nice big jar. I saw that crack it in and thought i’d break apart but it’s remained intact.
The lid is ever so slightly a different colour and isn’t a snug fit so I’m not sure if they are a pair.
Clear Bottle
This is an unusual bottle – it’s like a clear beer bottle but is tall and has a strange neck where the cap would go but it doesn’t look like a screwcap.
Water? bottle
I’ve fairly sure this is an old water bottle fragment.
Thick glass fragments
These pictures show how thick glass used to be, but not thick enough to last being stuck in the bank. I get the feeling this location was more of a place to chuck broken or chipped items rather than disposing of old bottles. Everything I’ve found has been found in that condition.
Everything, nice and clean.
The Terracotta pot is full of broken bits so they’ll be going in the next tip run – not that one!