Imported Pottery in South-West England, C1350-1550

The imported pottery of South-West England forms a distinctive series. Before c.1450 Saintonge wares form the bulk of the material, most plentifully at Plymouth, where there is also a scatter of Iberian imports. Plymouth retains this distinctive orientation into the early 16th century, when Exeter rapidly becomes a major stoneware market. It is argued that most pottery imports were regarded as quite low-value cargoes, and that the years around 1500 saw a marked development of chains of redistribution in the local ceramics market.