Medieval metalwork

A miniature in a Flemish manuscript of c. 1464 may show the impact of gilt copper alloy relief tomb monuments on contemporary imagination. A decade earlier Philip the Good had commissioned two such monuments: a triple tomb for his great-grandparents Louis of Mâle and Margaret of Brabant and his grandmother Margaret of Flanders in Lille, and a tomb for his great-aunt Joanna of Brabant in Brussels—the latter of stone and wood, however, but made to resemble gilt copper alloy. Other copper alloy monuments were later erected for Philip's daughter-in-law Isabella of Bourbon in Antwerp, his son Charles the Bold and his granddaughter Mary of Burgundy in Bruges, and Mary's husband Maximilian I in Innsbruck. These Burgundian memorials are part of a long tradition of copper alloy monuments that were once found across medieval Europe, starting with the tomb of Rudolph of Rheinfelden († 1080) in Merseburg. Unfortunately our perception of these sumptuous tombs is affected by numerous losses over the centuries, including the triple tomb in Lille and the presumed copper alloy one in Brussels. Thus, the survival of three clusters of medieval royal monuments in England has led to the mistaken belief that the use of "gilt bronze" was a specifically royal preference in England, whereas they were actually exceeded in number by such memorials to the nobility and the clergy. Yet the monument to Prince Afonso in Braga (Portugal) was probably inspired by these English royal tombs. A recently compiled corpus of extant and lost European examples up to 1430 demonstrates their former spread and patrons' choices of material.

This paper presents the results of an archaeological investigation undertaken by Wardell Armstrong Archaeology at Peter Gate, Cumwhinton, near Carlisle, Cumbria. The work has revealed significant evidence for pottery manufacture on, or very close to, the site which appears to have been established during the late twelfth century. This is significant as almost no other production sites are known in north Cumbria, especially outside the urban centre of Carlisle and the medieval ceramic traditions as a whole within the rural hinterlands of Carlisle remain poorly understood. One of the other significant outcomes of the excavation was the discovery of a substantial post-medieval corn-drying kiln.

Environmental analysis has revealed evidence for medieval and post-medieval cropping activity, corn-field weed ecology and construction methods associated with the corn-drying kiln, as well as the final function of the kiln, which was used for milling rather than threshing or brewing.