McIntosh's volume gives a broad overview of the historical and archaeological context, as well as the curatorial constraints, of the collection of material from Hadrian's Wall assembled by John Clayton (1792–1890), which currently comprises 22,800 objects and records under the care of English Heritage. The volume falls into two halves: a history of the activities of the antiquarian Clayton and his associates, on the one hand, and an appraisal of the usefulness of a nineteenth-century collection to answer twenty-first-century questions, on the other. However, the author's in-depth understanding of the history, context and curation of the collection bridges the gap between the two halves of the volume, which are of equal importance and relevance to those interested in the archaeology of Hadrian's Wall, antiquarian practice and museum studies alike.
With Clayton's original papers having been lost, McIntosh includes information about the collection's varied documentation history up until the most recent work carried out by the author herself. The latter is a significant achievement, which has unlocked the collection's potential and exposed the importance of good curatorial practice. The volume includes descriptions of previous catalogues and reveals the discrepancies between them, highlighting the difficulties faced by curators in establishing documentation history and provenance.
The volume also lists the work carried out by Clayton and, where possible, assesses the approaches taken during his excavations, including the disposal of coarseware pottery and animal bone. The removal of the majority of the coins and four intaglios, now lost, from the main collection is also noted. McIntosh highlights additional issues posed by the antiquarian excavations, such as the failure to record stratigraphy and find-spots, which, in combination with the scattered documentation, has resulted in 2,332 unprovenanced objects.
Despite these issues, it is important not to overlook Clayton's archaeological contributions. As the volume notes, by the end of his lifetime Clayton owned five forts and nearly 20 miles of Hadrian's Wall. The discovery of gate openings, for example, disrupted the then prominent curtain-wall theory. His excavations also influenced future work exploring the repair work on forts along the Wall, while he was also interested in the preservation of the Wall and its landscape.
Clayton himself was a prominent and powerful figure in Newcastle. His significant civic positions allowed him to wield influence within the city, an achievement that was perhaps aided by the cultural currency provided by his excavations and his control over access to view his collections. A solicitor by trade, Clayton worked at his father's firm, one of the largest in the north of England. His appointment as Town Clerk in 1822, amongst various other civic and business positions, gave Clayton real political and financial advantages. As McIntosh comments, having access to inside knowledge allowed Clayton to make shrewd investments and he more than doubled his wealth.
Interestingly, he did not donate his collection to the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, despite his family being involved with the society from its foundation in 1813 and Clayton himself serving as Vice President (1856) and remaining a member for almost 60 years. McIntosh suggests that one reason for this could be that keeping the material at Chesters, the family estate, resulted in it becoming a hub of research which, in turn, made the hospitality of the Claytons renowned. This allowed Clayton to develop friendships with his contemporaries, through prolonged visits. Additionally, by keeping the collection private, Clayton was able to adopt the habits of the landed gentry, such as the Duke of Northumberland, putting himself on a par with the latter rather than aligning himself with socially lower-ranking antiquarians.
The collection itself is large and varied, and includes archaeological finds from both Clayton's land and home at Chesters (Cilurnum), from where 45 per cent of the collection originates. McIntosh examines this archaeological material through three lenses: personal adornment; militaria; industry and craft. The potential and limitations of this approach are discussed and explored. They include the extent to which brooches can be used to explore identity, the complexity of identifying military objects and the difficulty of analysing tools that remained largely unchanged for hundreds of years.
McIntosh considers how the material can be used to answer contemporary questions by framing them against recent and current archaeological research frameworks and by comparing the dataset to those of other excavations at Hadrian's Wall and beyond. Overall, McIntosh concludes that Clayton's collection can be used successfully to answer many of these questions, when its curatorial history and antiquarian context are appropriately accounted for.
This volume is a foundation reference book for the Clayton Collection and represents a monumental hidden curatorial effort (of a type that is increasingly hard for museums to devote time to or fund) to document and reconcile the collection's objects and records. McIntosh argues decisively that the collection's dataset is sound. The Clayton Collection is now ready for further study, with some potential research areas already highlighted.
