Back | Forward | Close Window

Table 17: Worked stone objects.

SF context details identity description stone type
ST1 unstratified 1973 saddle quern Fragment from a saddle quern, partly burnt, with a concave grinding surface that has been pecked and then worn, especially at the edge. Made from a boulder and part of the original rough surface survives on the underside. Evidence for shaping has been masked by subsequent damage, but the quern appears to have been roughly pecked over part of the underside and in places at the edges; now 230 x 170 x 225mm, 5.5kg Granite; a light coloured, coarse-grained igneous rock with main components of white feldspar, quartz and biotite
ST2 unstratified 1973 quern material Unworked slab of quern material, part of damaged boulder with some of original surface; 316 x 192 x 120mm, 6kg Granite; as ST 1
ST3 unstratified 1973 rotary quern Part of upper stone from a rotary quern, weathered, with part of central hole and a concave grinding surface with smoothly worn patches where not weathered and a ferruginous deposit near the rim. Upper surface has been pecked into a dome-shape, hollowed towards the hole, although the pecking is nearly obscured by weathering; 246 x 146 x 97mm, 3.5kg Lower Old Red Sandstone Withington stone; a pebbly grit, weathered reddish brown, poorly sorted with small quartz pebbles and clasts of pink feldspar
ST6 0313.5; from near the bottom of the main inner enclosure ditch whetstone Broken end from a small whetstone of slab variety, weathered, but has clear evidence for use on all four long sides; 55 x 29 x 21mm, 40g Sandstone; brown, slightly micaceous sandstone, likely to be from local Upper Coal Measures
ST8 unstratified 1973 north end whetstone Complete whetstone, large rod with a near square cross-section, and three worn surfaces on the long sides, one markedly smooth and concave, while the fourth side is partly worn, likely to be post-medieval in date; 216 x 54 x 49mm, 850g Sandstone; light coloured, fine-grained quartz sandstone, now stained brown, likely to be from local Upper Coal Measures
  ploughsoil ?rubber Fragment, possibly reused piece of quern, worn on four surfaces; 116 x 101 x 81mm, 920g Sandstone; pink-brown medium-grained sandstone, probably from Coal Measures
- no information rotary quern Not seen, recorded only by a photograph (Fig. 46). Nearly complete quernstone, disc variety, probably lower stone, seems to be raised in centre round central hole or slot for the spindle, likely to be Roman Pale coloured stone, perhaps weathered to this light shade