Eightieth Dig Day – Sunday 16th February 2014

One the warmest and sunniest days for a long time. So our volunteers did some more arm twisting, and convinced me to allow some more digging before the backfilling of the site – on Tuesday 18th February – weather permitting! We also had the promise of a cameraman joining us to film the event.

So the day was spent doing some tidying up of the earlier excavations in front of the cottage, along with some more digging for the missing well (or water-tank) in front of the cottage. We knew, beyond reasonable doubt, it was not directly in front of the kitchen window. So we started exploring the previously unexcavated, or only partially excavated, area to the north of the shed which was on the cottage’s east side, directly opposite the front garden gate.

We found the 1942 ground surface, under about 10-15cm of demolition rubble, sat on top of a fill containing a range of mostly ceramic and metal finds, deeper than that further west towards the front of the cottage. Also present in this fill was a higher quantity of construction debris, including roofing slate. Almost no chalk was found in the fill, so it was not from a deeper excavation. Flints were found in the bottom of this trench, but we ran out of time to determine whether they were part of an archaeological feature.

What we did determine was that this area, between the front garden gate and the shed, is worth further investigation. But this would be for another dig. Hopefully this may be possible in April.

Meanwhile I am busy report writing, finds processing, and with the formalities of applying for a continuation of our dig in April (as well as with family and other personal commitments) – all in just a month and a half(?)!