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Encyclopaedia of the North East

S - Seaton Pottery to Slains Castle

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A large printed capital letter S with pottery, bottles and two axe heads.

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Seaton Pottery la19- 
1 n A pottery in Seaton, a district of Aberdeen 
2 n A type of earthenware vessel associated with the Seaton Pottery. 

The rich claybeds of the Seaton area, which lay just to the north of the Royal Burgh of Aberdeen, were known and exploited long before the advent of the Seaton Pottery. Brickworks had been operating in the vicinity since the late 18th century. Seaton Pottery was established a few hundred yards south of the New Bridge of Don in 1868.
Godfrey Evans 1981 Aberdeen Ceramics. 

Dairy bowl. A large cream coloured ceramic bowl with depressed brown decoration inside. The surface has a shiny glaze. The decoration consists of an eight pointed star inside a ring on the base, a peacock, flowers, an insignia consisting of a pair of crossed flags, an anchor, a pair of crosses swords a crown and the initials V R; and the inscription Mrs. David Rew, FEBY 4th 1882.

Dairy bowl made at Seaton Pottery. The date and names refer to a marriage. Aberdeen (1882).

ABDUA:18688

Dairy bowl. A large cream coloured ceramic bowl with depressed brown decoration inside. The surface has a shiny glaze. The decoration consists of an eight pointed star inside a ring on the base, a peacock, flowers, an insignia consisting of a pair of crossed flags, an anchor, a pair of crosses swords a crown and the initials V R; and the inscription Mrs. David Rew, FEBY 4th 1882.
Dairy bowl. A large cream coloured ceramic bowl with depressed brown decoration inside. The surface has a shiny glaze. The decoration consists of three rounded rectangular areas containing four hearts each and vines, a triangular pattern with dots inside on the rim, a six pointed star with oval shaped arms inside a ring with triangles and dots in it on the base, and the inscription Mrs ALLEN, No3. Mortimer's Lane, Inverurie, Feb 15th 1887.

Dairy bowl (1887).

ABDUA:18689

Dairy bowl. A large cream coloured ceramic bowl with depressed brown decoration inside. The surface has a shiny glaze. The decoration consists of three rounded rectangular areas containing four hearts each and vines, a triangular pattern with dots inside on the rim, a six pointed star with oval shaped arms inside a ring with triangles and dots in it on the base, and the inscription Mrs ALLEN, No3. Mortimer's Lane, Inverurie, Feb 15th 1887.
Pot. A small earthenware bowl with fragments missing. Curved dotted lines decorate the surface.

Decorated bowl from gave at Craig, Auchindoir (c3500-2500BC).

ABDUA:19753

Flagon. A brown ceramic bottle about a foot tall with a fat body and a small handle at the neck.

Stoneware flagon, Longside, Aberdeenshire (17th cent.)

ABDUA:15690

Kiln stands. Two simple cylindrical vessels of dark orange ceramic with a flared rims and bases.

Two kiln stands used to support pots when firing, Castle Hill, Rattray (13th - 14th cent.)

ABDUA:19289

Pot sherds. Four pieces of the rim of a large earthenware pot glued together. There are two small holes a few centimetres below the rim.

Rim from large storage vessel, Culbin Sands (c200BC - 500AD).

ABDUA:15658

Pot. A tub shaped white ceramic pot with a slightly flared rim and two bands of green and blue glaze which have melted into each other and have a drippy appearance.

Bowl made by Chris Heinzel, Aberdenshire (1990) - from Gallery Heinzel, Aberdeen.

ABDUA:36861

Salt pig. A swirly dark green and brown glazed ceramic vessel, in the shape of a tall dome with a handle on top and a wide rimmed opening on the side.

Salt pig made by Chris Heinzel (1990).

ABDUA:36862

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Shore Porters la15- 
The incorporated society of harbour porters of Aberdeen, no longer restricted to carrying goods to and from ships at the harbour. 

It is ordered by the Council this day, for the common good of the town... that all pynouris and carters of goods within this Burgh shall have for every barrel borne from the quay or from the landing stage at the quay to any part of the Burgh below Littlejohn Street one penny... Persons intending to carry goods within the town shall have complete freedom to do so without the interference of the Shore Porters.
Records of the Burgh of Aberdeen 22 June 1498

Bellarmine wine jar. A fat mottled brown ceramic bottle with a design containing a love heart stamped on the middle, and on the neck a face of a grimacing elderly bearded man with bushy eyebrows. The upper neck has broken off.

Dutch 'Bellarmine' jar dredged up from the mouth of Aberdeen harbour (17th cent.) 

ABDUA:17988

Bellarmine wine jar. A fat mottled brown ceramic bottle with a handle, a rose stamped on the middle, and on the neck a face of an elderly bearded man with bushy eyebrows.

A complete Bellarmine jar (16th - 17th cent.)

ABDUA:15691

Bottle. A deep green glass bottle with a very wide, squat body, covered in scratches and stains toward the bottom.

Dutch bottle from a ship which sank off Arbroath in 1689.

ABDUA:17641

Tweezers. A pair of small bronze tweezers.

Bronze tweezers, probably early medieval, possibly North German, from Culbin, Moray.

ABDUA:15781

Mace head. A small rounded rectangular slab of greenish stone with bands of darker and lighter colours. A perfectly circular hole about the size of a ten pence piece has been drilled near one end.

Mace head made of stone quarried at Killin, Perthshire, used in West Aberdeenshire (c2500BC-1800BC).

ABDUA:64508

Axe head. A large oblong piece of dark brown polished stone with orange speckles. The stone is wider and sharpened at one end.

Axe-head made of stone from the Antrim quarries, used in Strathdon (c3000-2000BC).

ABDUA:19928

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Slains Castle 
A fortified dwelling on the coast of Cruden, originally the residence of the Errols, later the inspiration for Dracula. 

Suddenly I became conscious of the fact that the driver was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light, and whose battlements showed a jagged line against the moonlit sky. In the gloom the courtyard looked of considerable size, and several dark ways led from it under great round arches.
Bram Stoker 1897 Dracula

Dracula. A paperback copy of the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, with an illustration of a vampire surrounded by purple smoke on the cover.

'Dracula' by Bram Stoker.

LEMUR:1000023

S - Seaton Pottery to Slains Castle