First Victorian bottle dig!

[Easylife]

More of the floor uncovered, it continues to slope up as a whole so far, I hit a patch of roof slate there.

So I then went the other way which is the deepest part with regular bottles showing.

There was a Benedictine herbal liqueur bottle of about 1920's, an Apollo table water, more small scents and an ink bottle.

An art deco Terry York, and a Windsor & Newton art paint bottle still with white paint in, this one may date around 1900?

Some mark VII .303 casings, a lamp hanger, a mechanical calendar, a couple of glass stoppers and a toy wheel.

It has become much clearer to figure how the pit lies below ground now that the light brown clay base has started to show up and I can see when the sides start to slope up but only one bit so far. It's also much easier to plan where to put the spoil so it's not in the way of the main area I want to dig. With that mysterious brick floor being there I don't really want to back fill it just yet until it's purpose is figured out and hopefully get a full reveal! There was a 5" diameter rotton trunk laying horizontally so maybe was a post?

[Ladybird66]

Well done doesn’t really cut it. Wow ! Reminds me of when I started detecting. Save everything, take it home, wash and wonder, what is it !
I s’pose bottle digging might be the same and only somewhere down the line you think, I’ve already got 20 of them, I’ll leave this one behind
Seriously though, I raise my hat to you. Must be hard to choose which ones to keep. They’re all in such good condition.

You’re brick floor. Are they bricks or cobbles ? A few years ago I was detecting on a farm that had a genuine recorded Roman Road road running through it. I’d asked the owner about a sunken track I’d spotted. He said it’d been like that since he was a kid but thought it was used by his Grand Father and I was welcome to explore.
Very over-grown but hey, worth a shot. Half way down I hit something hard so moved over a bit, just the same, again and again. Cleared it off. There was an extension of the road and not recorded ! It is now.
Unfortunately I couldn’t take it home

[Easylife]

Well done doesn’t really cut it. Wow ! Reminds me of when I started detecting. Save everything, take it home, wash and wonder, what is it !
I s’pose bottle digging might be the same and only somewhere down the line you think, I’ve already got 20 of them, I’ll leave this one behind
Seriously though, I raise my hat to you. Must be hard to choose which ones to keep. They’re all in such good condition.

I'm keeping it down to just one of each type unless it's one of the better ones. Each time I bring some back I return a few plainer ones to try and keep the numbers down. I have just over a bucket full of keepers now though will likely end up with 2 or 3 buckets full of bottles from this pit.

You’re brick floor. Are they bricks or cobbles ?

They are bricks.

[Ladybird66]

I think the land-scape designers of old have a lot to answer for. I remember one of them (male) virtually moved a complete hill because it spoiled the view.
If only the trees could talk !

[Kenleyboy]

I'm keeping it down to just one of each type unless it's one of the better ones. Each time I bring some back I return a few plainer ones to try and keep the numbers down. I have just over a bucket full of keepers now though will likely end up with 2 or 3 buckets full of bottles from this pit.
They are bricks.

Now you can see how much this bottle digging and collecting can get out of hand , it soon mounts up on the finds front and then you run out of room

[Emily]

You’re doing such an amazing job!! Well done and keep going!!

If there are any unbroken bottles that have embossed writing or interesting shapes that you don’t want, I’d love them!! I need some for a project.

[Easylife]

Another two hours at the middle of the pit, another bucket full of keepers!

A nice little aqua blue.

Many with glass embossed labels.

Home brewery, Corona, and Thompson & Pearson.

A Chesebrough Manufacturing Co vaseline jar and a couple of small scent vials. A surprise find was a well preserved 1950 tax disc from a Field Marshal tractor.

[Easylife]

The hole has opened up to a decent size now (fork for scale).

Bottles galore!

The one's I left behind, not just today's!

[Emily]

The hole has opened up to a decent size now (fork for scale).
IMG_20210520_184201.jpg
Bottles galore!
IMG_20210520_184320.jpg
The one's I left behind, not just today's!
IMG_20210520_184107.jpg

You just left them there??

[Easylife]

You just left them there??

Yup, I just take what I want, I'm not a bottle hoarder.

[Oxgirl]

Love the tax disc!

[Easylife]

Love the tax disc!

The house owner will be absolutely chuffed to bit's with it as it's part of the property's history. Those tractors were only made 1945 - 57 and no doubt it ploughed the side paddocks here. 70 years in the ground and it didn't get even get damp! It's probably worth quite a bit to the vintage tractor lot, so much better than the reproductions, but it's right place is with the house.

[Easylife]

I had another couple of hours in the pit. Where to put the spoil was an issue so I decided to backfill the pit base where it wasn't covered by the brick floor as I uncovered more of it.

Some more new to me design bottles showed, it's always nice to see a different one.

There was a tight cluster of about 3 dozen white cosmetic pots so were likely deposited in a bag?

I don't think that I'll have time to do any more here as I've just taken on a major project, though the owner may wish to expand it and uncover the entire brick floor? It would be interesting to figure out just what it actually was?

So my first bottle dig was quite fun, good excercise, and I was happy with the result of three bucketfuls of bottles that I kept (but wife wasn't!), though I was being quite selective.
There was quite a pile of surplus bottles.

It was a good experience and glad that I had the oppertunity especially on an undisturbed pit even though most of the finds were less than a hundred years old, but many were quite decorative and appealing.
Bottle digging is quite like detecting in the sense that you just don't know what will turn up next, and there were plenty of surprises!
Sometime I'll come back and find the original pit, I have a pretty good idea of where it will be, so that should be even more interesting!
But I've been missing my detecting, it seems like ages but has only been 2 weeks!

[Emily]

Are you near Oxfordshire?? You can’t just leave those bottles lying there!! I want some!!

[Dave The Slave]

Great photos and as for your final one.
In agreement with Emily, would have taken the lot.
What a great experience for your first proper dig.
Strangely enough my job this afternoon is tidying up side of the house, where all my bottles are but these are mainly surface finds, along with a few from a shallow dig. Mainly clear glass, WW2.
Your surplus would have done for a car boot sale, even if they were 50p each.
Could fund something new for you.
Cheers,
Dave.