RG:  Roman Greyware.  This was one of the most common types of Roman pottery, and was made in many different places in Britain.  Many different types of vessels were made, especially cooking pots.  It was most common in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, but in some places, continued in use until the 4th century.

 EMS: Early Anglo-Saxon.  Crude pottery made by the pagan Anglo-Saxons.  Was first made after the Roman pottery industries ceased production after the legions withdrew.  Most people probably made their own pottery of this type, dug from clay close to where they lived and fired in bonfires.  Most pots were plain, simple forms such as jars and bowls, but some, usually used as cremation urns, were decorated with stamps and scored linear patterns.  First made around AD450, very rare after AD700.

 STAM:  Stamford Ware.  Made at several different sites in Stamford in Lincolnshire between AD850 and 1150.    The earliest pots were small, simple jars with white, buff or grey fabric, or large jars with painted red stripes.  By AD1000, the potters were making vessels which were quite thin-walled and smooth, with a yellow or pale green glaze on the outside, the first glazed pots in England.  These were usually jugs with handles and a spout, but other sorts of vessel, such as candle-sticks, bowls and water-bottles are also known.  It appears to have been much sought after because it was of such good quality, and has been found all over Britain and Ireland.

 SN:  St Neots Ware.Made at a number of as-yet unknown places in southern England between AD900-1100. The pots are usually a purplish-black, black or grey colour, but the clay from which they were made contains finely crushed fossil shell, giving them a white speckled appearance. Most pots were small jars or bowls.

 EMW:  Early Medieval Sandy Ware:  AD1100-1400.  Hard fabric with plentiful quartz sand mixed in with the clay.  Manufactured at a wide range of generally unknown sites all over eastern England.  Mostly cooking pots, but bowls and occasionally jugs also known.

 SHW:  Medieval Shelly Ware.  AD1100-1400.  Made a several different places in Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire.  The clay that the potters used has a lot of small pieces of fossil shell in it, giving the pots a speckled appearance.  Sometimes, in acid soils, the shell dissolves, giving the sherds a texture like cork.  Mainly cooking pots, although bowls and jugs were also made.

 HED:  Hedingham Ware:  Late 12th – 14th century.  Fine orange/red glazed pottery, made at Sible Hedingham in Essex.  The surfaces of the sherds have a sparkly appearance due to there being large quantities of mica, a glassy mineral, in the clay.  Pots usually glazed jugs.

 GRIM:  Grimston Ware.Made at Grimston, near King’s Lynn. It was made from a sandy clay similar with a slight ‘sandpaper’ texture.  The clay is usually a dark bluish-grey colour, sometimes with a light-coloured buff or orange inner surface.  It was made between about AD1080 and 1400.  All sorts of different pots were made, but the most common finds are jugs, which usually have a slightly dull green glaze on the outer surface.  Between AD1300 and 1400, the potters made very ornate jugs, with painted designs in a reddish brown clay, and sometimes attached models of knights in armour or grotesque faces to the outside of the pots.  It is found all over East Anglia and eastern England. A lot of Grimston ware has been found in Norway, as there is very little clay in that country, and they had to import their pottery.  Nearly half the medieval pottery found in Norway was made at Grimston, and was shipped there from King’s Lynn.

 CSW:  Cambridgeshire Sgraffito Ware.  Made between 1400-1500.  Vessels usually jugs made from a clay which fired to a red colour.  The outer surface of the pot was then covered with white liquid clay (‘slip’) and designs scratched through the slip to reveal the body clay underneath (‘sgraffito’ decoration).  The whole was then covered in a pale yellow glaze, with the scratched patterns appearing red.

 BD:  Bourne ‘D’ Ware:  1450-1637. Made in the village of Bourne in Lincolnshire, until the place was destroyed by a great fire in 1637.  Fairly hard, smooth, brick-red clay body, often with a grey core.  Some vessels have sparse white flecks of shell and chalk in the clay.  Vessel forms usually jugs, large bowls and cisterns, for brewing beer.  Vessels often painted with thin, patchy white liquid clay (‘slip’), over which a clear glaze was applied.

 GS:  German Stonewares.  First made around AD1350, and some types still made today.  Made at lots of places along the river Rhine in Germany, such as Cologne, Siegburg and Frechen.  Very hard grey clay fabric, with the outer surface of the pot often having a mottled brown glaze, with some having blue and purple painted decoration, and others moulded medallions (‘prunts’) with coat-of-arms or mythical scenes on them.  The most common vessel type was the mug, used in taverns in Britain and all over the world.  Surviving records from the port of London (‘port books’) show that millions such pots were brought in by boat from Germany from around AD1500 onwards.

 GRE:  Glazed Red Earthenwares:  Fine earthenware, usually with a brown, orange or green glaze, usually on the inner surface.  Made at numerous locations all over England.  Occurs in a range of practical shapes for use in the households of the time, such as large mixing bowls, cauldrons and frying pans.  It was first made around the middle of the 16th century, and in some places continued in use until the 19th century.

 PSW:  Harlow Slipware.  Similar to glazed red earthenware (GRE), but with painted designs in yellow liquid clay (‘slip’) under the glaze.  Made at many places between 1600 and 1700, but the most famous and earliest factory was at Harlow in Essex.

 TGE:  Delft Ware.  The first white glazed pottery to be made in Britain.  Called Delft ware because of the fame of the potteries at Delft in Holland which first made it in Europe, although it was invented in the Middle East.  Soft, cream coloured fabric with a thick white glaze, often with painted designs in blue, purple and yellow.  First made in Britain in Norwich around AD1600, and continued in use until the 19th century.  The 17th century pots were expensive table wares such as dishes or bowls, but by the 19th century, better types of pottery was being made, and it was considered very cheap and the main types of pot were such as chamber pots and ointment jars.

 SS:  Staffordshire Slipware.  Made between about AD1640 and 1750.  This was the first pottery to be made in moulds in Britain since Roman times.  The clay fabric is usually a pale buff colour, and the main product was flat dishes and plates, but cups were also made.  These are usually decorated with thin brown stripes and a yellow glaze, or yellow stripes and a brown glaze.

 MW:  Manganese Ware,late 17th – 18th century. Made from a fine, buff-coloured or red clay, with the pots usually covered with a mottled purple and brown glaze.  A wide range of different types of pots were made, but mugs and chamber pots are particularly common.

 ES:  English Stoneware:  Very hard, grey fabric with white and/or brown surfaces.  First made in Britain at the end of the 17th century, became very widespread in the 18th and 19th century, particularly for mineral water and beer jars. 

 SWSG:  White Salt-Glazed Stoneware.  Delicate white pottery made between 1720 and 1780, usually for tea cups and mugs.  Has a finely dimpled surface, like orange peel.

 VIC:  Victorian.  A wide range of different types of pottery, particularly the cups, plates and bowls with blue decoration which are still used today.  First made around AD1800