On 9th of August we were visited by Roman pottery expert Ian Rowlandson who not only provided a fascinating introduction to the subject, but also coached us through identifying many of the finds we had assembled from the Dean’s Garden and our fieldwalking.

Thirty members and guests enjoyed a mind exhausting day!  It is good to have an expert who is prepared to coach you and let you handle the pottery and make mistakes.  It was certainly a steep learning curve on the identification of Roman pottery fabrics and style, with a few anomalies thrown in by Jane Young just to test us, (mediaeval pottery with urine deposits!)

Our thanks also to Jane and Jo for helping us sort through the material. We have identified some very interesting pieces, including a possible prehistoric fabric and late iron-age sherds found on the Brackenhurst estate.  More details forthcoming in a future report.