Monument record 2707/2/11 - Medieval pit and finds, Prebendal Manor House

Excavations at the Prebendal Manor House identified a medieval pit from which a chess piece was found.

{1}The Nassington Chess Piece was recovered from a pit excavated in Area 5, and has been dated by its association with pottery finds of the late 12th/early 13th century.

From its small size and simple domed form the Chess Piece can be identified as a pawn. The piece had been worked from a section of long bone, with separate bone plugs placed in the top and bottom hollows. The pawn measures 26mm high x 2.5mm wide. The domed top stands higher adjacent to what is presumably the front face. This is emphasised by the slightly angled base, which makes the piece lean backward. The surface of the find is smooth and highly polished from use, some faint linear cut marks survive on the base.

The piece is simply decorated; two pairs of parallel incised lines run across the top and terminate on the shoulder, where they intersect ring and dot motifs centred on each of the four faces. The lower body is encircled by a pair of roughly parallel lines, on the rear face these degenerate into multiple incisions.

Chapman, A, 2021, Medieval chess pieces from Northampton, p. 403-409 (Note). SNN112926.

<1> Chapman A, 1998-9, A Stylised Chess Piece from the Prebendal Manor House Nassington, Northamptonshire, P137 (checked) (Report). SNN100510.

Record last edited

Feb 4 2022 9:39AM