File:Complete medieval cooking pot (FindID 207003).jpg

English: Unglazed earthenware medieval pottery cooking pot or jar, apparently wheel-thrown, with developed rim and sagging base, complete apart from three small chips missing from the exterior of the rim and a small hole in the base. There are slight exterior indications of knife trimming at the base of the neck, and some thickening at the junction of base and wall. The fabric is slightly sandy and the surface is reduced pale grey with darker patches. The rim damage shows that the majority of the core is oxidised, but nowhere does the surface appear red. In the basal fracture only reduction is visible. Sooting on the base and parts of the lower wall indicate use as a cooking pot. Diameter 305mm, rim diameter 212mm, basal diameter 262mm, height 223mm. Weight 2.252kg.

The rim profile is very typical of medieval ceramic cooking pots found in Norwich and East Norfolk, e.g. Jennings EAA 13 (1981), fig. 15 nos. 302-4 and 310-12. This general class of vessel is broadly dated to the 13th and 14th centuries, but the relative simplicity of the rim might suggest a date earlier in that period. The place of manufacture is unknown because very little work has been carried out on the making and distribution of cooking wares in medieval East Anglia. Kiln sites at Potter Heigham and Woodbastwick are possible candidates but a yet undiscovered production centre south of Norwich is equally likely.

Despite being the most commonly encountered pottery type in Norfolk, of which many thousands of sherds have been recorded, the unglazed cooking pot is very rarely found in such a complete state as this piece. The reason behind its burial remains a matter of speculation, although many churchyards have yielded small quantities of medieval pot sherds. An almost complete example of a similar pot was recovered in 1979 immediately outside the southeast corner of the chancel of St Mary’s church, Barton Bendish (HER 4513).