The Gazette & Herald is delighted to feature this contribution from Margaret Shaw as the first article of what should be an interesting monthly column, featuring items from Malton Museum.

This fascinating object, made from fired clay, was found during excavations in Norton in 1954. We do not know where it was made, but the red clay used in its production is similar to that used for the roof tiles and heating systems in Roman Malton and Norton.

Standing at 39cm (15.3 inches) high, it is one of just 30 similar objects, or fragments of them, found on Roman sites in Britain. Their function is still a matter for debate. These objects are hollow and perforated and most taper towards a conical top. Some have flat bases and it has been suggested that they might have been used as covers for lamps or when burning aromatic substances.

The one held in Malton Museum is bulbous, with roughly-cut triangular openings, and is divided into three sections separated by narrow decorative flanges, formed by the maker pressing his fingers into the wet clay. It is relatively unusual, not only because it is virtually complete, but more importantly, because it stands on a curved base. The base is pierced below the “pot” and it could be suggested with some certainty, that it was made to stand on the apex of a roof and used as a chimney. Fragments of others with similar integral ridge tiles are known to have been found in York and elsewhere, although some might have been used as decorative finials rather than a functioning chimney.

Roman homes did not have fireplaces as we know them. Bake houses did incorporate chimney-type structures to draw off the smoke, but chimneys like this are likely to have been used on the roof of a kitchen or bath house.

Although it has not yet been found, there must have been a bath house connected with Malton’s Roman fort and possibly another within the civilian settlement that spread across the river into what is now Norton.

The chimney and other fascinating objects from Roman Malton and Norton can be seen in the exhibition “A Sense of Place” at Malton Museum when it reopens on 30th March 2024.

Malton Museum is a small, accredited local museum run by volunteers. It has a large collection of objects that include a significant collection of Roman artifacts. Late last year, a feasibility study started looking at a move to bigger premises, and how, where and when that might be.