…a great number of workmen must have been employed here.
Thomas Wright on the Upchurch Pottery industry, 1875

Two thousand years ago someone who died amid the Upchurch potteries was cremated and buried there in this locally made jar. It was found covered by the accompanying imported Samian Ware dish made by the Rheinzabern potter Statutus (ca. 160–200 A.D.). The burial site consisted of a semi-circle of similar Upchurch urns that contained the remains of puppies. The deceased canines probably were part of a votive offering to the god Robigus, protector of wheat from blight.