Twin Food-vessels preserved at Aqualate Hall, Staffordshire

Abstract

Among the heirlooms of the Boughey family at Aqualate Hall, Forton, Staffordshire (close to the eastern boundary of Shropshire), are two small bowls, originally joined as one vessel, which have been inventoried as ‘Roman Pottery’. Mrs. John Morris, who has recently inherited the property, remembers them from her childhood, and was always given to understand that they were found in draining the swamps that lie to the north of Aqualate Mere and west of Thistleyfield Coppice, in the time of her grandfather, Sir Thomas Boughey, Bart., some seventy years ago, when trenches full of bones, armour, and (reputed) Roman pottery were discovered. Most of the finds were kept in an outhouse, but the two pots were preserved in a cabinet in the Hall, together with a big dagger, the blade much corroded; Mrs. Morris thought it was of iron with a brass or bronze handle; unfortunately, it has now vanished and all the other objects are lost with the exception of the twin bowls. These Mrs. Morris most kindly allowed me to study and sketch in June 1928.