a).
Pilgrim's ampulla
In 2008 a small lead
flask was found lying on the surface of bare soil where turf had been removed,
within 100 metres to the north west of All Saints Parish Church. It measures 41
x 29mm and has a small handle on either side at the top, one of which has been
pushed in towards the body of the flask. It has been identified as a Pilgrim’s
Ampulla: a miniature flask worn around the neck designed to hold Holy Water or
Oil. In medieval England the Church encouraged people to make pilgrimages to
special holy places called shrines. It was believed that if you prayed at these
shrines you might be forgiven for your sins and have more chance of going to
heaven. Others went to shrines hoping to be cured from an illness they were
suffering from.
The two most important
sites of pilgrimage were the shrines of St Thomas a Becket at Canterbury (Becket
was murdered on the 29th December 1140) and the shrine of Our Lady of
Walsingham. Other shrines include St Albans, Lindisfarne, Glastonbury, Windsor
and Bromholme.
Pilgrim’s badges and
ampulla could be purchased by pilgrim’s at various shrines as proof of a
pilgrimage. The earliest simple forms date to the late 12th century.
By the 15th century designs were considerably more intricate with the
flask shape being spread out into the shape of a scallop shell or as a wheel
with spokes. They were made of poor quality pewter or lead and were cast in
stone moulds. The tops were closed by pinching and hammering the mouth of the
flask shut.
The ampulla has no
distinguishing marks so it may not be possible to associate it with any one
shrine. It is similarly just as difficult to accurately date. They are quite
unusual finds. The Portable Antiquities Scheme run by the British Museum lists a
total of 554 ampulla found in the UK since 1998, including 20 ampulla found in
Nottinghamshire (nearest to us was at Barton in Fabis and Gunthorpe), 25 in
Leicestershire (nearest was found at Wymeswold and Barrow on Soar) and just 2 in
Derbyshire. In the past it was suggested that these ampulla were used in the
middle ages for an outdoor church service called “Blessing of the Fields” held
in the Spring, however archaeologists now believe they were for purely personal
use.
b). Lead spindle
whorl
A
complete cast lead spindle whorl was found in a newly ploughed field close to
the centre of the old village. The whorl is biconical with a hole through the
centre where it would have been slipped onto the spindle and weighed 38g with a
diameter of 27mm. The sides of the whorl are decorated with letters and symbols.
Miss Charlotte Burrill, the Regional Finds Liason Officer for the East Midlands,
has spent some time deciphering the inscription, which reads "IESUS"
which was the old way of writing "Jesus". After the
final 'S' and before the starting 'I' there is the symbol of a skull. The under
side of the whorl has the letters "MARIA" which was
the Latin version of "Mary". Between the last
letter 'A' and the first letter 'M' is another skull symbol. You can envisage
the difficulty of carving the mould for this spindle whorl when you see that
some of the letters have been accidentally carved back to front and some are
inverted. It is believed that the presence of the two skulls is serving as "memento
mori" symbolism ('remember that you must die'). This symbolism
came into common usage in the middle of the Medieval period, which might
possibly be related to the devastation caused by the Black Death which first
struck the country in 1348/9 and re-occurred several times in later years. It
must be remembered that over one third of the entire UK population had died from
this plague.
Cast lead items are notoriously difficult to age but this spindle whorl was
assigned a date range of 1350 to 1550 with a 'best guess' of 1400 AD. So far as
is known a spindle whorl with this legend and symbolism is unique. The 'Wolds'
of Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire have always been the home of large numbers
of sheep. Sheared wool was first teased by fingers or comb to remove foreign
objects and would then have been washed in lye (an alkaline solution of wood
ash) to degrease it. The final stage before spinning into thread was carding or
combing until it was soft. Spinning was achieved by attaching the fibre to the
spindle which was weighted by a perforated stone or lead spindle weight. This
was spun by hand with the weight of the whorl acting similarly to a flywheel
drawing out the wool fibres into a yarn that was wound into balls ready for
hand-knitting or weaving on a loom . Hand spinning was not replaced by the
spinning wheel until the end of the Medieval period.
c).
Some Stanton fields have produced Medieval pot-sherds during field-walking. A
variety of different wares have been found and identified including Nottingham
sandy ware, Nottingham green-glazed splash ware, Midland early purple ware and
various coarse wares.
Return to archaeology of
Stanton on the Wolds
Go to
pre-history of Stanton on the Wolds
Go to the Roman
history of Stanton on the Wolds
Go to Anglo-Saxon and Norman
history of Stanton on the Wolds
Go to Post-medieval history of Stanton on
the Wolds
