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After a wet start, the weather cleared up just in time for the arrival of 7 volunteer diggers, mostly from Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society. Access was made much easier for us, for Natural England has now inserted a small wire gate into the fence, for which we are very grateful. Having already dug the […]

Yesterday I speculated about a probable coal store in Newmarket Cottage. Further research revealed this excellent article on the history of coal use in nearby Brighton, and the local entrepreneur James Corrall: Hove, Portslade and Brighton in the Past: James Corrall of Brighton. From this it appears that coal was significantly used as a fuel […]

Sunday was a great success. Eight volunteers turned up, including 3 from Brighton & Hove Archaeological Society and their ‘battle wagon’ full of useful tools. The day was sunny and almost warm! The ground was moist but dried once exposed to the drying sunshine. A digging hoe was used to cut through the bramble and […]

It is all very well my reading loads of stuff on archaeological methods – whether technique or theory. The core skills of archaeology are gained by practical experience. So on a very cold but mostly sunny Saturday I joined the Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society on their first dig day of the season at Rocky […]

During the clearance work I found another .303 cartridge. The headstamp was pretty dirty and or corroded, and in my ignorance, I tried cleaning it with a brillo pad and some meths. The last picture reveals the red paint has just about all been removed, however both the writing and the firing pin indentation are […]

The South Downs Conservation Volunteers were back on site on the 21st of last month to finish the clearance of the Newmarket Farm Site – invited by the Castle Hill nature reserve managers. I was so busy planning and studying in preparation for last Sunday’s dig, I have only just downloaded the photos from my […]

Our first volunteer dig day was planned for tomorrow, however there was a small snow blizzard yesterday evening, some sleet this morning, and more snow and freezing temperatures forecast for this coming night. Newmarket Hill is the highest hill in the area so it might not be a nice place to be on Friday. Therefore […]

The planning of my first ever archaeological dig has taken me far longer than I – er – planned! The good news is that I am feeling pretty optimistic that by next Friday the last few bits and pieces will all be in place – or will be very shortly. So I thought I would […]

A belated thank you to all the volunteers who came out in some very cold weather to help complete the clearance of the site. Just as important was the clearance of brambles and scrub to provide easier access for visitors and volunteers to the site from the main body of the nature reserve. Malcolm Emery, […]