Dr Klingelhofer comes to visit

Just had a great visit from Dr Eric Klingelhofer, eminent archaeologist and History professor at Mercer Uni, Georgia USA. Eric is also vice-president of the First Colony Foundation who are based in Manteo, North Carolina. Eric was wonderful company whilst he stayed with us in Bideford. I showed him my sherds and we re-named it the Green House Ceramics collection - he was most impressed by the sheer number of pieces found up the river Torridge.

Eric told me that some pieces of pottery have been discovered on Roanoke Island which date back to pre-1600 and grit free (found in the same context in Ireland). They would have been from jars, probably balluster jars, which would have been used for containing preserved food, anything from butter to fish. These jars were probably then re-used as containers in the process of assaying minerals.

The photograph was taken by my husband Dave - Eric is laying flowers at St Mary's Church in Bideford in memory of Rawley, the native American who was brought to the town by Sir Richard Grenville in 1586 following a skirmish on the Island. A member of the Grenville household, Rawley was baptised a Christian and later died and was buried in the Church in 1589, along with one of Richard's daughters Rebecca. In the back ground with Sadie is Andy Powell, Bideford Town Councillor and author of 'Grenville and the Lost Colony of Roanoke'

Flowerdew Collection

Driving to see this collection near Charlottesville, VA, was an amazing experience - I had an address and a google map but it was unexpectedly a lovely place to visit, with a gated entrance and a man in charge of visitors who welcomed me and gave me permission to proceed up the private driveway. What a start!

A fascinating trip to view some of this collection, held by University of Virginia, solidifies exactly the direct link between the tobacco and pottery trade between Bideford and the Eastern Seaboard of America.

Flowerdew Hundred dates back to c1620, is on the James River and was in essence a tobacco plantation and factory and saw the “transformation of English Settlers into Americans” (from Commerce and Conflict: The English in Virginia, Flowerdew Hundred Foundation). During a time of peace with the local tribes, there was an opportunity for the English to expand their settlements and for colonists to take over the Indian’s abandoned villages. Flowerdew Hundred was established in this way and was “one of the earliest and most important of the large, privately owned plantations established in Virginia during the tobacco boom years 1617-1625” (from Commerce and Conflict).

It also has some of the richest and best preserved English settlement sites in the US. There are many examples of pottery, mainly plainware in their collection. I visited Karen Shriver, curator of the collection near Charlottesville – Karen introduced me to the collection and then pulled a few pieces for me to see and photograph. These vessels included a lovely ballister pot, c1624-28, most likely used to transport butter; a milk pan base with a green glaze and several smaller gravel tempered sherds, some with a lead glaze c1650 -1775. All these pieces have been identified as originating from North Devon.

Photographs taken by Dave Green, with permission given to use them courtesy of The Rectors and Visitors of the University of Virginia