USUALLY it is a pestle that is used to grind substances in a mortar but next month this one will be coming under a hammer, so to speak, when it appears in Greenslade Taylor Hunt’s antique sale, on Thursday, February 2.

Unearthed on private land at Washford, the mortar has been examined by Somerset Museum and recorded under the Portable Antiquities Scheme with a probable date of circa 1400 to 1700. It was carved from a single block of carboniferous limestone likely to have been quarried in the Mendips, and may have had a connection with Cleeve Abbey or one of the larger houses in the area.

The exterior is decorated with incised cross-hatched grooves, giving it an attractive sculptural quality and, although there is inevitably age and burial-related wear, it displays well.

Items of this age rarely come to the market, particularly with such a pronounced local appeal. It will be offered with a pre-sale estimate of £400-£600.

The February sale will be on view on Saturday, January 28, from 9am-12.30pm and again on Tuesday, January 31 and Wednesday, February 1, between 9am and 5pm.

For further details contact the auctioneers at antiques.saleroom@gth.net or by ringing 01823 332525.