We were lifting our The Charlottes day before yesterdeay I never dreamed I'd come across this clay pipe bowl in the new lottie. I believe it dates from around 1710 to 1850. I find lots of pipe bowls and stem bits in my other lottie from time to time---also old Delft Blauw pottery bits and other stuff. So you see, the gardening is not just about planting and sowing...it's also Archaeology some times....I wonder if I could get the Time Team over here for a look-see this winter. One the outside...note the small 'S' at the base of the bowl, it is a thing like a Hallmark to identify the maker and they always appear on the left side of the pipe as far as I know. Here is what the inside of the bowl looks like. I know these are small to look at, but perhaps you can make it all out. These pipes often had very long stems that were arched, but not always. Do you guys ever dig-up arrowheads, coins or anything old in your gardens or around the yard?
We've found a lot of clay pipe pieces here in our garden too. I find them fascinating and keep them for Duncan as he's into archeology. Some of them are just plain but others have some wonderful carvings on them. We also find shards of blue and white plates, bowls and cups as well as pottery and glass bottles. Maybe some day we'll find a real treasure trove!!
That sort of thing really makes digging fun! We've found the odd spoon and old, broken toy, but nothing like that pipe head. My husband would go bonkers and call in the experts, so I think I won't tell him if I found anything interesting.
ROARRRRRRRRRRRRR.... well, I wonder if he likes digging as well? If he does, we could work-out something the next time our garden soil needs turning and he can come and do it. He may keep any pipe stems that he finds as a bonus. hahahahaha... :-D
OMG, you all are so lucky. Plates, pipes, cups, wow how interesting. The best I've ever gotten was some old bones attached to a tree stump when we had our house put in. I'd much more like to find pottery, or pipes.
You all are lucky! All I've found is junk! I think the previous owners buried all the stuff they didn't want We have found an OLD OLD crescent wrench, lots of nails and brick after brick after brick. I did find a cute little bitty bottle in excellent shape that I use as a vase for a single pansy If I dug up that pipe bowl I'd be doing cart wheels!! Deanna :-D
I would love to find relics from the past, much more interesting than what I do dig up. I find mostly pull tabs from beer cans, it would appear that the previous owners were devoted beer drinkers and took that devotion seriously. I did find a black saphire and gold men's ring about 20 years ago but the yard has not presented anything so nice since then.
Fab Sjoerd, I am very jealous! On my old allotment we dug up an 18 carot gold piece of chain, and as I was pregnant at the time, my mum had it made in to a little bracelet for our daughter. On my current allotment I have dud up odds and sods of china, an old, huge key and a little noddy toy cup. I also found a threepenny piece. When gardening in an old Tudor house last year I dug up several old perfume bottles. That is about as exciting as it gets. One day I imagine someone will turn up an opal earing on my allotment as I lost it there on a windy day when the netting caught it and pulled it out.
When we lived in Wisconsin we lived an a house that was built in 1872 and we found a lot of things in the back yard. Lots of old medicine bottles, dishes, and broken pieces of china. Most interesting were the cans and bottles we found stuffed down inside the walls in the attic rooms. We wouldn't let the boys make holes in the lower walls to see if they went all the way down. We still have some of the old bottles. Out here we found arrowheads but not much else interesting. dooley
Being close to the sea, people very often find shark's teeth, but nothing as interesting as the relics you find. I can visualize "old fathers" smoking those pipes, maybe "old mothers" too. Gardengater
Nothing in the garden, but I can remember my father finding arrowheads when he would plow the fields. After he would plow it and disc it smooth, he would wait until we had a real hard rain and then he would go out and walk the field looking for them. The rain would usually wash the dirt off of them. The one field that he found a lot of them in is the field right behind my house.
Thanks for these nice responces as well as the comments on what you guys have found. It's always just amazing what folks find under the soil's surface sometimes. I found reading your posts very interesting.
