Research: the clayton collection
The material displayed at the museum in Chesters, Northumberland was mainly collected by John Clayton between 1840 and 1890 (see portrait below). He excavated at Chesters and at many other sites along Hadrian’s Wall, often buying land to save the Wall to advance its study. The collection ranges from inscriptions to dress accessories, jet items to weaponry and pottery to keys, including objects of stone, metal, bone, glass and ceramic. The current museum inventory has over 13,000 records.
The last catalogue of this material was published in 1903 by Sir. E. Wallis Budge (an Egyptologist from the British Museum). This doctoral research will aim to build on the work carried out since then, put it into the context of other 19th century collections and assess the importance of the collection in terms of what it can tell us about the Central and Eastern Sector of Hadrian’s Wall. Many sites are represented in the collection, mainly from what was the Clayton Estate until 1930. These sites include; Carrawburgh, Carvoran, Cawfields, Chesters, Coventina’s Well, Crindledykes, Great Chesters, Halton Chesters, Haltwhistle, Housesteads, Kirkby Thore, Nether Denton, Vindolanda, and various Milecastles and Turrets.
Clayton worked long before the advent of detailed contextual recording and mapping. Some of the records that he did produce have since been lost. This makes a detailed contextual analysis of artefacts within the collection difficult but it is still possible to learn a great deal from what survives. Methods of analysis and profiling, not to mention typologies, have been developed for various classes of artefacts, and these can be employed for the Clayton Collection. Case studies will be carried out on certain parts of the collection to look in further detail. These will include militaria, brooches, ironwork and the material from Chesters alone.
Project Leader: Frances Mcintosh
Funding Body: The Clayton Trustees
Partners: The Clayton Trustees, English Heritage
