Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 2

An Archaeological Study of Clay Pipes from the King's Bastion, Fortress of Louisbourg

by Iain C. Walker

Part I The King's Bastion and its Casemates: Appendix A: Pipe Material from Disturbed Areas

The following deposits represent material from disturbed areas, the validity of whose contexts could not be guaranteed.

Layer 9M represents the initial cut made at the doorway end of the casemate before it was realized that this area had been so confused by prior depradations; Intrusion 2 is the fill found in the earlier of the two intrusions, the one containing the fragment of modern bottle.

	Layer 9M
73.1:	Stem fragment with impressed on it, the two Ns being retrograde and the TE and HE being monogrammed (Fig. 36, left).
73.2:	Stem fragment with REUB and a third line half broken off below which appears to be D(P,R), N, E(F), N(M,V) impressed on it (Fig. 36, right). In addition, three stems fragments (73.3; 88.no object number, and 109.no object number) have rouletted line and touching circle decoration that has been discussed in detail above. Both of the makers' marks were found elsewhere in this casemate. There are two fragments ascribed to John Stephens of Newport, one from Layer 3, and the other from Intrusion 1. Although this stem uses the same style of lettering as that on stem fragment 4.20 from Intrusion 1, it differs in having the two Ns reversed and the TE and HE monogrammed. This suggests that either the name was put on the pipe by using dies with individual letters, which would have been extremely laborious; or a stamp was composed of a number of individual letters, which is indeed hinted at by traces of what appears to be the edge of the stamp on some Stephens stems. In view of the sophisticated pose of the monogrammed TE and HE, it is possible that the retrograde Ns are deliberate. Stem 17.5 from Layer 3, on the other hand, has much larger, more widely spaced letters, and if a die was used the letters were not sharply shaped, as in the case of the two other examples. The fragment marked REUB/ENSI, as already noted when describing the similar example from Layer 9 (100.1), is from a hitherto unknown maker, Reuben Sidney. A Binford analysis of the 46 fragments from this layer gave a median date of 1739.78, which compared with the similarly obtained date for Layer 9, 1741.31, suggesting that there was little difference in content between this layer and Layer 9. The reason for so designating this layer (the M standing for "mixed"), was that it comprised Layer 9 material plus Intrusion 2 material (which was itself a heterogeneous mixture including later material). Intrusion 2 This layer represents the material in the earlier of the two intrusions. This digging probably skimmed the top of Layer 9, so it the fill of this area represents the dug material redeposited, it should comprise substantially a heterogeneous mixture of Layers 1, or at least 2, to 8; and the Binford date (1750.88) for the 71 fragments found in this deposit suggested this to be indeed the case.
16.4:	Complete bowl and heel, W on left side of heel, B on right.
47.1:	Stem fragment with the letters O and I and a number of indecipherable marks, impressed; large letters, widely spaced. In addition, one stem fragment, 15.1, has the rouletted markings and joined circles described above. The initials WB are extremely common among English pipemakers. Between 1710 and 1759, eight are listed by Oswald (1960: 62-3): William Booth of Canterbury, freeman in 1710; William Bray of London, apprenticed in 1719; William Barnes of Woodbury, Hampshire, mentioned in 1723; William Buskin of London, mentioned in 1735; William Brion of Broseley, who died in 1740; William Bennet and William Brownbill, both of Salford and both mentioned in 1750, and William Barber of Chester, freeman in 1759. The pipe is of typical Oswald type 9 shape and is therefore extremely unlikely to have been made by Brion of Broseley, where there was a distinctive local typology (Oswald and James 1955a; 1955b). Barnes of Woodbury must have been one of the countless local makers in villages whose products rarely went beyond the immediate area; and considering the places of work of the remaining six makers, London and Chester seem the most likely, suggesting Bray, Buskin, or Barber as being the most likely makers. The stem 47.1 is possibly the same type of John Stephens stem as that from Layer 4 referred to above, as opposed to the others which have sharply impressed small letters.

31 Longitudinal section of Casemate 1 Right, looking NE. (click on image for a PDF version)

32 Recording in process during excavation. Section being drawn is upper right part of section shown on the right in the next figure.

33 Three cross-sections of Casemate 1 Right facing SE. Left, taken one-third distance from rear of casemate; middle, taken at centre; right, taken one-third of distance from front. (click on image for a PDF version)