The Leith Ronaldson’s Wharf excavations carried out by the City of Edinburgh Archaeological

Servicein 1997. This large urban excavation covered two large areas either

side of the medieval main street Sandport Street laid out formally in the 12th century overlying and

incorporating the pre burgh fishing settlement and port. The excavations uncovered extensive

remains dating from the early foundation of the settlement (thought to be in the 10/11th centuries)

up to the 20th century

Haggarty, George

English

National Museums Scotland Research Repository

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Haggarty, George (2013) Ceramic Resource Disc: Later Pottery & Porcelain from 
Ronaldson Wharf Leith. National Museums Scotland , Edinburgh.  
Introduction, Acknowledgments & Bibliography 
 
File 1-6 BOX 1 
 
File 7-8 BOX 2 
 
File 9-13 BOX 3 
 
File 14-15 BOX 4 
 
File 16-17 BOX 5 
 
Illustrations A-D 
 
 
http://repository.nms.ac.uk/1184 
 
Deposited on: 12 May 2014 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NMS Repository – Research publications by staff of the National Museums Scotland 
 
http://repository.nms.ac.uk/  
1 
 
The later ceramic material from Ronaldson’s Wharf Leith 
 
George R. Haggarty* 
Research Associate: national Museums Scotland 
         Ronaldson’s Wharf Leith Area F under excavation: image courtesy of John Lawson  
 
The Leith Ronaldson’s Wharf excavations carried out by the City of Edinburgh Archaeological 
Service at in 1997, see [illus a & b]. This large urban excavation covered two large areas either 
side of the medieval main street Sandport Street laid out formally in the 12
th
 century overlying and 
incorporating the pre burgh fishing settlement and port. The excavations uncovered extensive 
remains dating from the early foundation of the settlement (thought to be in the 10/11
th
 centuries) 
up to the 20
th
 century. 
 
2 
 
The excavations uncovered one of Edinburgh’s largest assemblages of medieval and later ceramic 
material. The vast majority of Industrial Produced ceramics have been divided into two principal 
groups, (1) and (2).  
 
(1) This consisted in the main of blue and white transfer-printed wares both Scottish and 
English, [word files 12-16], with lesser amounts of Scottish cut sponge decorated 
wares, [word files 8-10], hand painted wares [word file11] and banded wares [word 
file 6]. All the pottery except the buff banded wares are in standard white earthenware 
and seem to date in the main from the second and third quarters of the 19
th
 century.  
The vast majority of this material derives from Area G, see [illus d], context [3002] 
the fill of a sewer trench and [3003] the backfill of a lightwell for a late-18
th
/19
th
 
century Tenement sealed by a wooden floor.  Much of the ceramic material conjoins 
suggesting that it derived from a common source probably context [3003] with the 
material within the sewer fill being redeposited.   
 
(2) This assemblage principally derives from Area F located on the western side 
of Sandport Street an area principally of domestic occupation. The material consists in 
the main of 18
th
 century wares with some earlier tin-glazed earthenware shards. It 
comprised white salt-glazed stoneware [word file 2], scratch blue [word file 3], 
creamware [word file 4], tin-glazed earthenware [word file 7], Chinese export 
porcelain [word file 1] and pearlware [word file 17].  
 
In the main the British material derives from contexts [1139, 1160, 1162 and 1220], 
see [illus c], while the shards of Chinese porcelain derived mostly from the same 
contexts with a few outsiders, such as context [1035].  The dating of the British 
ceramic material suggests that the Chinese porcelain dates mainly from the earlier to 
middle Qianlong reign [1736-1796], but to the author a number of the shards look a 
bit earlier. The vast majority of the tin-glazed earthenware, which is almost certainly 
Dutch, was also recovered from Contexts [1139, 1162 and 1164] and like the Chinese 
porcelain some shards seem to be earlier, dating from the first quarter of the 18
th
 
century.  
 
Context [1139] a basement infill, while [1160] is a fill to the north of [1157] which 
underlies [1139]. Context [1162] was a mixed deposit between walls [1119] and 
3 
 
[1157] and it was made up of dumps of levelling material cut by [1161] same as 
[1152] and [1139].  Context [1220] was the fill of depression overlying [1529]. 
 
A number of small tin glazed shards were recovered from other contexts, and these 
will have to wait for the final publication to be dealt with properly.  However a 
number of important pieces deserve mention here; a foot-rim shard from an Italian 
Savona moulded and painted dish, context [1626] [word file 7 no 7-50], which must 
date to c. 1700, while the only shard of Portuguese, Lisbon tin-glaze, identified to-
date from a Scottish site, context [1305] [word file 7 no 7-20], is likely to be of 
somewhat similar date. There is also a large fragment from an Anglo-Dutch 
polychrome charger decorated with stylized plant in pale blue, pale plate tin-glazed 
earthenware plate from context [1147], and this is likely to date from the first half of 
the 17
th
 century, while other shards from context [1056-57] are also thought to be 17
th
 
century, but somewhat later in date.  Other tin-glazed shards from context [1314] are 
likely to date from c. 1710-20, while those from context [1152] probably date to c. 
1720-30.    
 
Given the number of conjoining shards between most of these contexts it must reflect 
a period of levelling activity during the 18
th
 century which may have disturbed an 
earlier dump.   
 
Acknowledgments 
While cataloguing the Ronaldson’s Wharf ceramic assemblage, the work of the National 
Museums Scotland volunteers, Jim Gray, Sheila Forbes along with, David and Catriona 
Maisel, all working in the NMS ceramic store, was crucial in getting the shards washed, 
sorted and, where possible, joined. As usual, Sheila also carried out, with amazing speed and 
good humour, the tasks of shard marking and packing. For practical support we are as always 
indebted to a number of people in the Museum including George Dalgleish Lindsey McGill 
and Jackie Moran. I also wish to thank Stefan Sagrott for the illustrations and Jim Gray for 
help in cataloguing the tin-glazed earthenware. Finally John A Lawson of City of Edinburgh 
Council Archaeology Service (CECAS) allowed me to work on the shard material and 
arranging payment for the CD ROMs and drawings and for this I am extremely grateful.  
 
4 
 
*George Raymond Haggarty asserts and gives notice of his right under section 77 of the 
Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988 to be identified as the Author of the enclosed 
Newbigging Resource Disk.   
 
 
Bibliography  
 
Dinh Chién, Nguyén 2003 Tàu Cô Cà Mau, The Ca Mau Shipwreck, 
 
Fleming, J A 1923 Scottish Pottery 
 
Godden, G 1964 ‘Encyclopaedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks’ under the Index 
Signs & Devices [No.2617; p 759] and in the main section No. 2617; p.428 
 
Haggarty, G 2007 ‘The evidence for 18th century Creamware and Pearlware production in 
the Forth littoral’ in Creamware and Pearlware Re-Examined’ A collection of papers 
presented at a Colloquium held by the English Ceramic Circle at the Victoria and Albert 
Museum, Kensington 4
th
 and 5
th
 June 2005, 218-230. 
   
Haggarty, G 2008 ‘Portobello Potteries’ A Ceramic Resource Disk in’ The Northern 
Ceramic Society Journal 24 [2007-8]. 
 
Haggarty, G 2012 Bo’ness Pottery Ceramic Resource Disk: National Museums Scotland, 
Edinburgh http://www.sair.org.uk/      
    
Jones R and Leishman, D A 2012 Scottish Pottery Marks. The Scottish Pottery Society   
 
Kelly, H E 1999 Scottish Ceramics. Atglen USA. 
 
Matusz, J 1977 Delfts aardwerk, Amerongen 
 
Priestman, G H 2001 An Illustrated Guide to Minton Printed Pottery 1796-1836, Sheffield, 
Endcliff Press. Hanoi  
 
Riley, N 1991 Gifts For Good Children-The History of Children’s China 190-1890. 
Somerset.  
 
Sheaf, C & Kilburn, R 1988 The Hatcher Porcelain Cargoes. Oxford. 
 
Van Dam, J D 2004 Delffse Porceleyne, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. 
 


Ceramic resource disc: later pottery & porcelain from Ronaldson Wharf Leith

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