Albrighton Community Dig

The hot and dry summer of 2018 revealed evidence of previously unknown archaeology across Britain. One such set of 'parch marks' appeared near the crossroads in the middle of Albrighton, Shropshire. These marks and our geophysics survey of the site, suggested a series of pillars and walls which might have been part of the old market hall, pulled down in the early 1800s.

Parch marks visible in the summer of 2018

Over three days in July, with the help of the Albrighton & District Historical Society, we set about digging a series of test pits. On the first day we played host to children from the local primary school who had great fun sieving and cleaning finds and learning about archaeology and history. Over the following two days we were visited by dozens of villagers who were fascinated to see the Society's display and talk to their knowledgeable chairman John Stretton. Many of the children who visited on the first day were so enthralled that they came again on the following days to see what else had been discovered.

We dug three test pits and made interesting discoveries in each. A compacted clay floor and traces of a probable column support were uncovered but the most significant archaeology was discovered in pit #3. After uncovering the remains of a wall foundation, we were thrilled to find a spectacular cobbled surface. This may have been a yard or path associated with the market hall or even part of the old village street, which was part of the Wolverhampton to Holyhead coach road.

A small sondage in the south-west corner of the pit seemed to show that the cobbles had been laid on smaller stone set in clay.

The fantastic cobbled surface uncovered at Albrighton

Finds included pottery sherds and fragments of roof or floor tile from the Medieval era, a Georgian coin, various pieces of glass, pipe stems, a chalk-board stylus (the building was at some point used as a school) and a few pre-industrial era buttons.

A report with photographs can be found on the website of the Shropshire Star and on Albrighton & District Historical Society's Facebook page.

 

East Park Academy Dig

When we team up with local schools to demonstrate archaeology, we inevitably find that the children are absolutely fascinated to learn about what's beneath their feet. So it was with the youngsters at East Park Academy in Stow Heath, who were absolutely thrilled to take part in our dig for their History Week.

 Explaining the basics of archaeology

Sieving the spoil

Sieving the excavated soil is always the most exciting part for children (and adults!) as you never know what might come to light.

As can be seen from the map below, in the early 1800s, the area in which the school now sits was surrounded by iron-smelting furnaces and coal mines. In fact 'Stow Heath Furnace' was literally a stones throw to the east of the site and Chillington Furnace was a little further away on the other side. No surprise then, that blast furnace slag featured amongst our finds but we also found evidence of post-medieval domestic activity, including pottery.

 

This work is based on data provided through www.VisionofBritain.org.uk and uses historical material which is copyright of the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and the University of Portsmouth.

The test pit uncovered lots of building rubble and iron-making slag

One of the things that struck us about our visit was how very well behaved and happy the children were, truly a credit to the staff at East Park, and we were delighted to receive this letter from the Head Teacher:

 

 

Iron Smelting in Britain

 

At our June meeting, Paul Robinson gave a presentation entitled '2,000 Years of Iron Smelting in Britain'. The talk covered the bloomery process in detail from the early Iron Age up until the end of the Medieval Area.

It included a short video of modern day experiments in ancient techniques and samples of various types of bloomery slag were brought along for members to examine.

The final part of the presentation focused on our on-going project at Coven, where strong evidence for ancient iron-smelting has been found during the last year.

Bloomery 'tap slag' recovered at Coven

Isotopes in Archaeology

 

 

A fascinating presentation entitled 'You are what you eat: How isotopes can dish the dirt on you" was given by Dr Kate Farr at our May meeting. As a professional scientist, Kate was able to give a detailed but easy to follow account of what isotopes can reveal about the lives of those in the distant past. Her presentation also covered the forensic use of isotopes in a few recent criminal cases.

Letocetum Guided Tour

 

On Saturday 11th May we met at the Village Hall at Wall for a tour of the Roman settlement of Letocetum. Our guide was Dr Mike Hodder, an archaeologist who has a lifelong association with the site.

Mike was keen to share his knowledge of the development of the camp which was the precursor to the city of Lichfield. He was able to point out features around the village which would probably have gone unnoticed to the untrained eye and described in great detail how the site had grown and then declined. Since parts of the settlement are still to be investigated, we were happy to offer to carry out any geophysical survey that might be needed.

The standing remains are impressive and well worth a visit; parking is not too difficult and there is no charge to visit the site. A small museum adjacent to the ruins has a fascinating collection of Roman artefacts. The local volunteers deserve a big thank you for maintaining the site, organising tours and looking after the museum (and providing a very welcome cup of tea and slice of cake at the end of our visit!).

 A few of the artefacts on display in the museum

The Magic of LiDAR

 

The speaker at our March meeting was Nigel Westwood, who gave a fascinating insight into the development and use of LiDAR in archaeology. Images of Roman camps and roads in South Staffordshire were used to illustrate the value of this tool for those looking into the historical landscape.

Time Team & Dig Village

 

Videos from Time Team and Dig Village were shown at our recent meeting. For long-standing members this must have brought back very fond memories of our time spent with Channel 4's 'Time Team'. Eagle-eyed members will no doubt spot a few familiar faces in this still taken from the closing scene of 'A Village Affair', the episode about Bitterley, Shropshire (Series 19 episode 2).

 

Investigations at Coven

Following the recovery of two very large pieces of iron-smelting waste at Coven, we carried out a geophysics survey on 16th February. Our survey covered nine grids laid out in a 3x3 square. With each grid being 20x20 metres the total area surveyed was 3,600 sq m - quite a size!

As so often happens with Geophys, the results are interesting but inconclusive. There were certainly strong responses in both the magnetometry and resistivity. We hope to be digging test pits later in the year after the harvest. The final Geophysics plots and the results of our excavations will be included in the final report.