Archaeomagnetic analysis of glassmaking sites at Bagot’s Park in Staffordshire, England

Bagot’s Park in Staffordshire played an important part in the history of English glassmaking during the medieval period. A recent programme of limited excavation over three years has allowed archaeomagnetic sampling to be carried out on the remains of fifteen furnaces located there. The results are reported and the deduced archaeomagnetic dates compared with complementary evidence derived from an initial analysis of surface finds and documentary archives. The latter indicates that glass was produced at Bagot’s Park between about 1300 and 1615 AD. Archaeomagnetic evidence supports this but suggests that production was not constant over the period with a possible peak in production during the 15th century. The absence of any archaeomagnetic dates after the mid-sixteenth century is also in accord with evidence which indicates that the production of window glass had almost ceased in England at this time, before being resumed by foreign glassmakers from Lorraine who arrived in Staffordshire in the 1580s. The archaeomagnetic dates also raise interesting questions about the siting of the furnaces, revealing that glassmaking remains in close proximity to one another may differ considerably in date.