The Old Vicarage at Mellor was a Public House called the Church Inn from around 1560 to 1784. This is refected in our finds from the Post Medieval Period of platters, drinking vessels and Clay Pipes. The Inn was sold to become a Vicarge in the 1780s at the start of the Industrial Revolution. We continue to find local pottery sherds from this period, for domestic and dairy uuse but the clay pipes from the Inn dissappear and are replaced by the finer pottery and China of a comfortable residence.

A great variety of sherd ofpottery has been found, which would have been thrown in the midden (the rubbish heap) together with manure and compost and scattered round our site. Wooden platters would also have been used but unfortunaley these would have rotted.

From the 1650's onwards, there were many innovations in pottery making and glazing, although post-medieval coarse ware continued to be made locally, often by farmers who dug the clay locally and made their own dishes and vessels.

The earliest post-medieval sherds are the heavy, light brown salt glazed stoneware, ideal for beer mugs, bellaramines (wine containers) bottles, and pickle jars. We also have pieces of Blackware tygs, which are many handled drinking vessels. There are sherds of the much finer manganese mottled ware from the mugs used in the inn and sgraffio ware from Europe, made by scratching a decoration on a layer of clay before glazing.

One of our most magnificent finds is an almost complete lid of beautiful Thomas Toft feathered slipware from the 17th century, which would glisten in candlelight, other lovely trailed slipware mostly with orange body and white slip, and later 18th century pieces in brown and white.

Other individual finds from this period have included an Elizabethan Shilling and a 17th Century Horse Brass

With thanks to John Hudson who produces Replica Toft and other period pottery and demonstrates his skills at open days