This highly decorative fragment of pot was found in the upper fill of watermill leat at the north end of the paddock.
It is Roman Samian Ware, high status tableware mainly made in Gaul (France) in the first, second and third centuries AD. It was made by pressing the clay into a mould. It may have arrived at the site in a broken condition as part of a consignment of material recovered from a nearby Roman building/settlement, but it seems more likely that it was a very old antique in use at the time of the monastery and broken on site. If so, one has to hope that it was the owner, and not a servant who broke it! It will be interesting to see if we find any more of the pot. If we do, we might even learn the mould-maker’s name as this was often put on the mould and appears on the base of the pot