The Nottingham jar is a large, earthenware pot with handles and a lid – a little like a crick pot, I guess. I’m sure it does exactly the same as a modern slow-cooker, but somehow I also imagine something slow-cooked in a Nottingham jar in the oven would be taste better. I’ve seen nineteenth century adverts from them sized from a pint to four quarts – that’s a gallon! They were sold with or without lids but I can’t quite think why you would want one without a cover.
Here is a recipe from 1920:
PICKLED PLUMS.
An easy way to pickle plums is to remove stalks, discard all bruised and overripe; plums; wipe sound plums with a cloth and arrange them in layers in a Nottingham jar, .with .a liberal allowance of good brown sugar sprinkled be tween. Fill up the jars with cold vinegar, tie them down, and bake, in a rather slow oven till the plums are tender, then tie down. Any spice such as stick cinnamon and allspice berries with mace, may be added according, to inclination.
Lois Elsden 
My great aunt used to make really delicious pickled plums. She lived near Evesham – home of the British plum.
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I love plums… in any form!
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Bet the plums had a nice earthy taste to them.
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I bet they did!
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