This report provides the first typology for a group of newly recognised medieval pottery — Ely wares — in a research project conducted by CAM ARC (formerly Cambridgeshire County Council Archaeological Field Unit) and funded by English Heritage. Study of material currently held in excavated assemblages and museum collections has resulted in this fully illustrated vessel type series which spans the mid 12th to the 15th centuries. Much of the material was produced in Ely, 24km to the north of Cambridge, although other probable production centres can now be identified. Related scientific analysis has sought to demonstrate the characteristics and provenance of the material, enhancing understanding of related distribution and trade networks. When combined, the results effectively close a substantial gap in knowledge for the pottery of the Cambridgeshire sub-region, where little substantial publication or synthesis was previously available for the medieval period. This is, however, by no means the definitive work on the subject and future research objectives can now be identified.
Paul Spoerry, 2008. 'Ely Wares', East Anglian Archaeology 122