Onion and Mallet bottles
This month we feature two bottles that were dug up at Lydiard Park on the edge of Swindon. The bottles date from the late 17th Century to early 18th Century and are known as onion and mallet bottles. The onion bottle has a more rounded shape, whereas the mallet bottle has straighter sides. The bottles were used to store wine and spirits.
The bottles look very different to wine and spirit bottles of today. They are particularly short and stout. They were designed like this for transport on sailing ships, with the wider shape and flat bottoms being more stable on rough seas.
- 17th Century drinking culture – note the onion bottles on the floor and table.(Courtesy of the British Library)
The consumption of alcohol, usually wine and gin, was an essential part of life in the 17th Century. There was a boom in the trade of wine from the mid-1600s onwards with most of the imports coming from Europe. Drinking became a social activity which saw the rise of inns and public houses across the country. It was also popular in political circles where toasts to health and the king or queen were common. Incidentally, the occupier of Lydiard House at the end of the 17th Century was Henry St John (1652-1742) who was MP for Wootton Bassett at the time – perhaps these bottles belonged to him?
