Deritend ware is a distinctive style of medieval pottery

Pottery

Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...

 produced in Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Consisting mainly of jugs and cooking pots, with small quantities of bowls and dripping trays, it is made from orange-coloured clay decorated with lines made of white clay. The style is similar to north French decorative styles of the period around 1300, and there are clear signs that the Deritend ware industry was founded by potters from the London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 area in the thirteenth century.

Deritend Ware was produced in the Digbeth

Digbeth

Digbeth is an area of Birmingham, England. Following the destruction of the Inner Ring Road, Digbeth is now considered a district within Birmingham City Centre. As part of the Big City Plan, Digbeth is undergoing a large redevelopment scheme that will regenerate the old industrial buildings into...

, Deritend

Deritend

Deritend is an historic area of Birmingham, England, built around a crossing point of the River Rea. It is first mentioned in 1276. Today Deritend is usually considered to be part of Digbeth.-History:...

 and Bull Ring areas of Birmingham in kilns that were probably located in the back yards of houses. The orange clay is the Mercia Mudstone

Keuper marl

Keuper marl is the former name for a layer of mudstones and siltstones from the late Triassic period . Typically red, or occasionally...

 that underlies this area of Birmingham and would have been obtained locally, while the white clay would have been brought from further afield.

Deritend Ware was first discovered during the widening of High Street, Deritend in 1953, when misfired fragments of pottery were discovered to the south of the main road. Further evidence has since been found at the Old Crown Inn

The Old Crown, Birmingham

The Old Crown a pub in Deritend, is the oldest extant secular building in Birmingham, England. It is Grade II* listed, and claims to date back to circa 1368, retaining its "black and white" timber frame, although almost all of the present building dates from the early 16th century.-History:It is...

, the Custard Factory

Custard Factory

The Custard Factory is an arts and media production centre in Birmingham, England .Located on the redeveloped site of the Bird's Custard factory in the industrial district of Digbeth, it is home to a community of businesses, primarily with an artistic and media slant, but also including...

 and underneath the site of Selfridges

Selfridges

Selfridges, AKA Selfridges & Co, is a chain of high end department stores in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge. The flagship store in London's Oxford Street is the second largest shop in the UK and was opened on 15 March 1909.More recently, three other stores have been...

in the Bull Ring.