Hello dear readers, and welcome back to the JAMCam. The Team has been hard at work over the last few weeks as we now begin to explore areas of research and the more fiddly items in our collection. Even though we’ve moved inside, out of the rain and the wind, we’ve found that the trench has followed us.
Caption: A mini-excavation in a bucket.
Yesterday we had a go at excavating one of the many enamel bowls or pots found in September. This one was of particular interest as it was stuffed with tin cans, meaning that there could be other interesting bits and pieces inside. We’re only halfway through so fingers crossed for some treasure.
We’ve also begun researching some of the items in our collection, in particular the clay pipes. We have such an extensive collection of pipes we’re confident we can create an almost complete chronology, but we have to prove it through research. Thankfully The National Pipe Archive and The Society for Clay Pipe Research both have a wealth of great resources when tracking down local pipe manufacturers.
Our wonderful volunteer Dayna has spent some time looking through articles and manufacturers’ catalogues to identify local makers, such as the Parke Family of Gateshead.
Caption: Thomas Parke Pipe.
The pipe stem above is stamped with the name of the manufacturer, Thomas Parke. Thomas Parke is named in a 1675 charter from the Bishop of Durham as one of a list of artisans, grocers, tobacconists and pipe makers, to name a few, established in Gateshead. This charter laid out rules for the management and conduct of businesses. By allying with other relatively small industries such as the grocers and other craftspeople, pipe makers were able to exercise power and control over trade in the area. The Parke family seemed to be prolific in Gateshead, and we haven’t been able to establish whether this stamp belongs to Thomas Parke I or Thomas Parke II, but we can say that it perhaps dates to c.1675-1687, when both manufacturers were known to produce stamped pipes. All we need to do now is find other examples of Parke stamps to compare ours to, which will help us determine a more accurate date.
Caption: A collection of Tennant Family Pipes, Newcastle, Late 19th Cent. (Photo from: Hammond, P. (2015). Nineteenth-century Pipes and Pipemakers in Cumbria, Westmoreland and Northumberland. Society for Clay Pipe Research Newsletter, 88, pp. 8-16.)
We also seem to have an extensive collection of Tennant family pipes. The Tennant’s, originally from Edinburgh, were based in Newcastle and Berwick-upon-Tweed, and were active largely in the late 19th century. Dayna was able to identify several fragments matching the images of complete pipes above.
We also have several other examples of marked and decorated pipe fragments that we’re working to identify, but many of them have stamps that suggest they were made locally.
Though perhaps the shining jewel of our collection is our ‘Let Glasgow Flourish’ pipe, which features a tree with a bird and a bell, with a fish across it’s trunk, all symbols of St. Mungo, the Patron Saint of Glasgow, and the cities motto ‘Let Glasgow Flourish’ on the other side.
This pipe is significant in that it was probably made in Glasgow, and has travelled a considerable distance, undoubtedly with an interesting story to tell. More importantly, the South Shields Museum has an example of the same pipe, broken at the stem in the same place in their collection.
Caption: ‘Let Glasgow Flourish’ Pipe held by South Shields Museum. (Photo from: Vaughan, J. (2016). Clay Tobacco Pipes in South Shields Museum. Society for Clay Pipe Research Newsletter, 89, pp. 3-7.)
But ours is better preserved, HAHA!
(Joking! We love you South Shields Museum and are incredibly excited to add to the collection of historical clay pipes in South Tyneside.)
Reference: Edwards, Lloyd J (1986). Tobacco pipes. pipemakers, and tobacconists in Newcastle and Gateshead until c1800: an archaeological study. Durham e-Theses. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/6882/
Hammond, P. (2015). Nineteenth-century Pipes and Pipemakers in Cumbria, Westmoreland and Northumberland. Society for Clay Pipe Research Newsletter, 88, pp. 8-16.
Vaughan, J. (2016). Clay Tobacco Pipes in South Shields Museum. Society for Clay Pipe Research Newsletter, 89, pp. 3-7.)