Medieval and Post-Medieval London Brick Fabrics

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Medieval and post-medieval brick and drain fabrics

July 2007

*: occurrence is occurrence in London

Brick fabrics

Fabric 3030

Red, orange, light brown

Yellow and brown mottled clay matrix

Rare*

Fabric 3031

White, yellow, pinkish red, light brown

Common very small quartz (up to 0.3mm). Scatter of rounded yellow or brown silty pellets (up to 4mm) in some bricks. Fairly soft, friable fabric with an even sandy texture

Very common

Fabric 3032

Dark red, reddish purple

Parts of the surface are often discoloured by fine yellow speckling. Common burnt black ash and flint inclusions (up to 6mm) with varying amounts of quartz (up to 0.8mm). Clay pipe stems in some bricks

Very common

Fabric 3033

Orange, red

Fine fabric with scatter of quartz (up to 0.8mm), with calcium carbonate inclusions (up to 1.5mm) and black iron oxide (up to 1.5mm). Occasional flint fragments and small pebbles (up to 7mm)

Very common

Fabric 3034

Dark red, reddish purple

As fabric 3032 but with common yellowish white silty bands in clay matrix

Fairly rare

Fabric 3035

Generally yellow, examples can show greyish or pinkish-orange tinges. Occasionally pale brown

Common burnt black ash and chalk inclusions (up to 4mm). Scatter of quartz (up to 0.6mm).The fabric is hard and riddled with tiny air pockets where organic matter has burned out during firing

Very common

Fabric 3036

Yellow

Hard uniform texture with common quartz (up to 0.3mm), although difficult to distinguish from the background matrix

Common

Fabric 3037

Light brown or orange red

Fine, sandy texture. Hard and well fired with pellet like, balled clay inclusions

Rare

Fabric 3038

Brown light orange

Very hard and distinctive granular fabric with numerous small white inclusions

Fairly common

Fabric 3039

Dull red

As fabric 3033 but with lenses of light clay giving a streaky appearance to the core

Fairly rare

Fabric 3040

Yellow, light grey, light red

Soft fabric with lenses and banding of different coloured clay. Occasional black iron oxide (up to 0.3mm)

Fabric 3041

Light red, light brown.

Fabric characterised by moderate calcium carbonate (up to 1.5mm) and occasional quartz (up to 0.1mm) and ash fragments (up to 1.5mm), lumpy clay texture

Rare

Fabric 3042

Maroon

Clay matrix characterised by yellow speckling. Reddish maroon clay inclusions give the fabric a slight lumpy texture. Occasional sandy lenses, otherwise few other inclusions, apart from scatter calcium carbonate (up to 1.5 mm) and quartz (up to 0.6mm)

Fairly common

Fabric 3043

Light brown, yellowish-brown to yellow

Clay matrix with frequent streaking, plus speckling. Occasional shell fragments with a scatter of quartz grains up to 0.6mm. Where frequent, the quartz occurs in sandy bands. Other features: Certain bricks have gastropod and other shell fragments up to 4mm across

Fairly rare

Fabric 3044

Yellow

Yellow clay matrix with red mottling. Abundant small quartz up to 0.2mm

Rare

Fabric 3045

Brown, orange, maroon

Speckled clay matrix. Few visible inclusions apart from mica specks and red iron oxide (up to 2.0mm)

Rare

Fabric 3046

Orange, brown

Sandyversion of fabric 3033 with, frequent quartz (up to 1.0mm), occasional calcium carbonate

Very common

Fabric 3047

Orange

Fine sandy fabric, common quartz (up to 0.4mm) and dark red iron oxide (up to 6.0mm). Other features: fine quartz moulding sand (up to 0.1mm) on outside

Rare

Fabric 3065

Orange

Very sandyfabric with frequent quartz (up to 0.8mm), occasional dark red iron oxide (up to 3.0mm) and white flint/shell(?) inclusions

Fairly common

Fabric 3071

Brown

Occasional iron oxide, calcium carbonate and small quartz (up to 0.2mm)

Rare

Fabric 3073

Yellow, light brown

Fairly frequent quartz (up to 0.3mm). Occasional red iron oxide and light brown clay inclusions (up to 4mm). Shell fragments sometimes present

Rare

Fabric 3093

Reddish-brown

Fine clay matrix with mixture of two fine clay types; hence streaked clay matrix. Occasional iron oxide inclusions (up to 17mm)

Rare

Fabric 3206

Brown

Abundant white and cream calcium carbonate inclusions (up to 1mm). Occasional large white inclusions (up to 6mm) and dark red iron oxide (up to 1mm)

Fairly rare

Fabric 3208

Yellow, pink, light brown

Fine silty fabric with occasional burnt out organic voids

Rare

Fabric 3209

Orangey-brown

Yellow and orangey-brown mottled clay matrix. Scattered quartz (up to 0.6mm) anddark red iron oxide (up to 1mm)

Fairly rare

Fabric 3210

Orangey red

Lumpy clay matrix. Large fine rounded clay pellets (up to 27mm) in sandy clay matrix with common small quartz (up to 0.3mm). Scatter of iron oxide inclusions up to 15mm

Rare

Fabric 3211

Orangey-brown

Fine silty background clay matrix with very small white calcium carbonate, quartz and muscovite mica (0.01mm). Scatter of orange clay inclusions (up to 7mm)

Rare

Fabric 3215

Orange, red

Very fine sandy clay with numerous very small quartz and black iron oxide grains (up to 0.01mm). Occasional large chalk and brown iron oxide (up to 15mm) in certain bricks

Rare

Fabric 3217

Orange

Sandy fabric with common quartz (up to 0.7mm). Common cream silty bands and occasional darker reddish-orange rounded inclusions (up to 3mm) and clay bands. Some flint pebbles (up to 15mm)

Fairly rare

Fabric 3221

Orange

Fairly frequent quartz (up to 0.5mm) with scatter of black and dark red iron oxide (up to 4mm). Occasional paler coloured clay pellets (up to 4mm) and flint pebbles (up to 8mm)

Rare

Fabric 3223

Orange, red

As fabric 3257 but with occasional large flint (up to 14mm). Probably same fabric as 3257

Fairly rare

Fabric 3224

Orange

Fine silty clay matrix with occasional red iron oxide (up to 7mm)

Rare

Fabric 3235

Orange

Silty clay matrix with common white and cream silty inclusions (up to 2mm) and red clay inclusions (up to 4mm). Scatter dark red iron oxide (up to 1mm)

Fairly rare

Fabric 3241

Orange, light brown

Sandy fabric, well sorted large quartz (up to 1mm), with common iron oxide and rounded clay inclusions (up to 2mm). Occasional small silty inclusions (up to 2mm) and siltstone (up to 10mm).Similar to fabric 3217 but much less silty

Fairly rare

Fabric 3242

Reddish-orange

Common well sorted quartz (0.3-0.8mm) with scatter of red iron oxide (up to 1.5mm) and occasional cream silty inclusions (up to 2mm)

Rare

Fabric 3247

Brown

Fine silty fabric with frequent muscovite mica

Very rare

Fabric 3248

Yellow, pink

Fine hard fired fabric with scatter of black iron oxide (up to 2mm)

Rare

Fabric 3250

Brownish-orange

Fine silty background matrix with occasional larger quartz and red iron oxide (up to 1mm)

Rare

Fabric 3257

Orange, brown

Fine sandy fabric, abundant small quartz (up to 0.3mm) and common muscovite mica. Occasional large cream silty inclusions (up to 6mm) and scatter of large dark red iron oxide (up to 7mm). (See also fabric 3223)

Fairly rare

Fabric 3260

Brownish-orange

Frequent quartz (up to 0.6mm) and numerous white crushed shell inclusions (up to 1mm). Occasional red iron oxide (up to 1mm)

Rare

Fabric 3261

Yellow

Refractory brick. Hard fabric with common large quartz (up to 2mm), Scatter of very small red iron oxidespots in clay matrix

Fairly common

Fabric 3271

Orange

Fine white mottled orange clay matrix. Scatter black iron oxide (up to 0.4mm)

Fairly rare

Fabric 3272

Orange

Common well sorted moderate sized quartz (up to 0.3mm) with scatter of white calcium carbonate and black iron oxide (up to 1mm)

Very rare

Fabric 3274

Brownish-red

Very sandy fabric with abundant small quartz (mainly up to 0.3mm) with scatter of white calcium carbonate (up to 1mm)

Rare

Fabric 3275

White, pale grey, cream. Refractory brick

Hard very sandy fabric with abundant very small quartz (up to 0.2mm) with common black iron oxide (up to 1mm)

Rare

Fabric 3276

Dark purplish-red. Refractory brick

Very heavy brick with abundant large round pebbles and dark red, white and light grey rock fragments (up to 10mm)

Rare

Fabric 3277

Brown

Sandy fabric with common quartz (up to 0.5mm) with common muscovite mica (up to 0.2mm). Scatter of red iron oxide (mainly up to 1mm). May be from same/similar source to micacous brick in fabric 3247

Very rare

Drainage tiles

Fabric 2280

Light brown, orange

Very fine sandy fabric with frequent small quartz and black iron oxide grains

Fabric 2281

Orange

Sandy fabrics with abundant quartz grains, with iron oxide and occasional silty inclusions