National Museums Liverpool Excavation Archives
National Museums Liverpool, 2003. https://doi.org/10.5284/1000214. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © National Museums Liverpool unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Primary contact
Christine
Longworth
Curator of British & European Antiquities
National Museums Liverpool
William Brown Street
Liverpool
L3 8EN
UK
Tel: 0151 478 4311
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 331
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000214
- How to cite using this DOI
Buckley Archive
A Finding Aid to the documentary archive
created by James Bentley between 1972 - 1989
Introduction
The town of Buckley in Flintshire, North Wales, has been associated with the production of pottery for at least 600 years. It is situated 12 kms west of Chester at a height of 140 m above sea level on Buckley Mountain, close to the Dee Estuary. By the early 17th century a group of cottage potters had settled around Buckley Mountain where they exploited the suitable supplies of clay, coal and lead. The peak period of production was at the end of the 17th century.
This documentary archive was donated to National Museums Liverpool in 1995 by Dr. Peter Davey, University of Liverpool, along with the finds created from fieldwork in Buckley. The finds and documentary archive are the result of James Bentley's research over a 20 year period into the Buckley pottery industries. The archive comprises excavated material from post-medieval kiln sites. The associated documentary archive consists of reports, notes, plans and sketches produced by James Bentley. In addition, the archive includes general items associated with pottery and industrial production in Buckley collated from various sources.
The archive also consists of additional reports and drawings compiled during a Manpower Services Commission scheme run by the University of Liverpool.
Individual museum accession numbers have been allocated to specific pottery production sites in Buckley as follows and are quoted within the finding aid:
Brookhill 1995.96
The earliest post-medieval site in Buckley, in operation from 1640-1720. Produced a wide range of slip-decorated wares and other wares.
Pinfold Lane 1995.97
Dates from 1690-1720. Similar production range to Brookhill pottery.
Hancocks 1995.98
Dates from 1790-1880, produced mainly kitchen wares and specialised industrial wares.
Ewloe 1995.99.
Medieval site. No kiln found.
Miscellaneous
Industry
Guide to the finding aid
Sections:
The Aid is divided into six sections using Roman numerals. Sections I-IV relate to the sites quoted above. Section V contains miscellaneous material. Section VI includes all the later industrial documentation.
Sections I-IV are sub-divided into elements which can be identified with standard archaeological documentary archiving, see the list below. For some sites, it has been necessary to include additional elements to take account of the variety of evidence.
- Photographic material
- Maps, plans, sections
- Drawings
- Reports
- Correspondence
Sections V and VI are more complex and are sub-divided into elements which relate to the nature of each archive.
Numbering system:
Each level of numbering builds on the previous number with a / to separate the main divisions. The examples below show how the numbering is built up.
- First level
- Main category, for example 5 Reports
- Second level
- Subdivision of main category, for example 5/1 James Bentley's Reports 1974-1978
- Third level
- This is only used in Sections I, V and VI. Single item within the above subdivision, for example 5/1/3 A4 photocopy probably of report deposited at CRO, BP 1286, 1974
- Fourth level
- This is only used in Section I. It allows for listing more than one copy of a document, for example 5/1/3.1 Vol. I: Text 45 pages 5/1/3.2 Vol. II: Illustrations 59 pages
Cross references:
Provides guidance to other sections of the Aid, which contain further information related to an individual entry.
- SEE
- Indicates where the item is stored. The cross reference will quote a simple reference, for example SEE 5/1/12, if the item is within the same section. If the item is stored in another section, the cross reference would be given as follows, SEE V 2/7/1.
- SEE ALSO
- Location of additional archive material associated with the existing item.
Annotations:
There are many instances where James Bentley made hand-written notes on the original documentation. Where they exist, they are shown in italics.
Compiled by Christine Longworth and Julia McLaughlin Cook, November 2000
