List of our projects

List of our excavations

Woodside Road

Our third archaeological excavation was started in June 2010 in the back garden of a private house. We followed the same process as the previous two excavations and a 1m square test pit was opened. The homeowners were able to give us access to the site for a full eight consecutive days and Steve Pearce took on the role of Site Director with a team of volunteers who were able to complete the test pit in the time allowed.

The site was chosen for its proximity to the medieval chapel of St Anne in the Wood which is indicated on several versions of maps, although the precise position of the chapel is still the subject of debate. The house in Woodside Road is believed to be the first built on the plot and it was hoped the site would be relatively undisturbed.

Having progressed down through the garden turf and topsoil we found another garden surface and surmised that the garden level had been raised probably during the lifetime of the present house. In the fill were found tumbled chunks of limestone and a single housebrick. Finds included tobacco pipe fragments, a tin can base, some (but not many) potsherds, several pieces of flint, nails and fish-hooks, two modern pennies, some slag, and fragments of glass. There was also some charcoal and evidence of burning. The finds from this test pit were quite unlike those from our previous two excavations.

The excavation was closed after hitting bedrock at about 90cm. The process of washing and cataloguing the finds is ongoing and in due course a full site report will be produced.



Credits
1st photo — How many archaeologists can you fit in a test pit? (© Theresa Driscoll 2010).
2nd photo — Layers in time (© Doreen Lindegaard 2010).

Text — Dawn Witherspoon (new 11.07.10)