School Test Pit Turns Up A Few Surprises

On 5th November we completed another educational visit, this time to Lanesfield Primary School and as always, the report will be published here in due course.

 

The 1900 OS map shows "old coal shafts" right under the school (!) and we fully expected to be digging through colliery spoil with few finds. In the event we were pleasantly surprised to find our test pit was full of interesting pottery and glass. 

 

Our test pit was in the south west part of the school playing field.

 

 After taking off the turf we found a neat layer of pebble and small cobbles, presumably spread to aid drainage for the school field. Below this we encountered over half a metre of what appears to be domestic ash, containing many finds from the late 18th and 19th centuries which was a real thrill for the children. It may be that the ash was local domestic waste, the contents of ash-pits from the town spread as night-soil or simply material brought in to level up the field. There was nothing to suggest it came from any industrial process.

At the bottom of the test pit we encountered a sloping layer of crumbly yellow clay which could be natural or perhaps spoil from the old coal workings.

 

 

 

The oldest ceramics found ('Cistercian ware' and 'Midlands purple') date all the way back to the 17th century but these were mixed in with later material and clearly out of context.

 

 

 

Lots of Room(s) at the Inn!

Our excavation at the former public house continues with new walls, floors and other features coming to light at every dig session. Despite the complexity of 300 years of extensions and alterations the history of the building is slowly becoming clearer.

It appears that there were originally two cottages at this location probably built in the late 1600s or early 1700s and mostly unaltered until the first half of the 19th century, when they were partially demolished and absorbed into the new inn and farm.

As the century progressed the inn expanded and new farm buildings were built around it. Later in the century some of the outbuildings were demolished as the inn and domestic side expanded. The early 20th century saw a little more building as the inn became solely a farmhouse until the 1960s, that decade of upheaval, when it was finally demolished.

Our work at the site continues and no doubt our theories will be modified as new discoveries are made and the history of this fascinating site becomes clearer still.

Here are a few of the myriad features we've uncovered to date.

Part of the cobbled farmyard:

The brick floor of a c1700 cottage overlaid by a later brick floor:

An inglenook fireplace which contained dateable pottery and clay pipes:

Floors of an early utility building overlaid by various concrete footings:

Festival Feedback

Here are some of the email and Facebook comments we've received following our Festival of Archaeology digs. It was hard work but we very much look forward to doing it all again next year!

More Discoveries at Oak House

Our three-day test pit dig at Oak House which ended today was a great success. Thirty three years ago a number of exploratory trenches were dug in the back garden of this grand old house and in one, the corner of a wall foundation was found. No further investigation was carried out at the time so our objective for this dig was to locate the structure and look for any dating evidence.

We know that the building was in existence in the 1840s since it's illustrated on the parish tithe map but it had been demolished by the late 1800s when the house was converted to a museum. After serving as 'pleasure gardens', the back lawn became a bowling green in the 20th century. The garden is now undergoing partial 're-wilding' with an emphasis on a sustainable wildlife habitat rather than formal mown lawns which have little environmental benefit.

While we didn't find anything in a sealed archaeological context to provide a date, we did locate our target and discovered a little more information. The foundations consist of large sandstone blocks on top of which lies a 10cm (4 inch) thick 'pad' of sandstone fragments, tile and mortar, which is wider than the blocks. Why this overhang exists isn't clear but we plan to carry out a more extensive excavation in the near future which may answer this question and provide a date.

A 3D photogrammetry model can be found here.

Another Successful Community Dig

Our Festival of Archaeology dig at Albrighton today attracted many visitors with lots of enthusiasm for learning more about their local history and many interesting questions.

The fine weather meant we had around two dozen people around the test pit at most times of day, with adults and children taking part and making discoveries for themselves.

Find of the day was an early Georgian halfpenny and the most interesting feature was a man-made yellow sandstone surface although what purpose it served we cannot say for certain.

Walls, walls and more walls!

After almost three months work at the former inn, our initial objective, to discover its outline and the position of its internal walls is nearing completion. As a result we're now moving from the exploratory to investigation phase, when the archaeology proper begins!

Our first target is the well defined ash-pit and what remains of its adjoining privy at the rear of the premises. Post 1870 widening of the gap between the pub and the farm buildings involved demolition of some old parts of the domestic side of the inn and construction of a new boundary wall which also extended the ash-pit. This explains the unusual shape of the ash-pit, shown in this photo:

What remains of the privy is at bottom right. Its walls and the east wall of the ash pit are all angled slightly west of north whereas the new wall at the top and the west wall are set at a different angle.

On-going excavation of the ash pit fill (below the demolition rubble, which has been removed) is starting to yield some interesting results.

A photogrammetry model of work in progress can be viewed here. It shows how the extended ash-pit has a sloping floor (or deposit?) of sand and pebble. Whether we will find a 'proper' brick floor below remains to be seen.

Inspiring Children

Our mini excavation at Castlecroft Primary School on 25th June was a great success, with around a hundred taking part. The weather was perfect and the children displayed boundless enthusiasm. 

While we went there with the aim of inspiring children, we came away with the pleasure of having met some inspiring children instead. Their knowledge and thirst for learning stood out and is a real credit to their teachers.

While no archaeological features were uncovered there were plenty of typical finds, from bits of pot to clay pipes and pieces of iron to lumps of clinker, all of which delighted the finders! We took along a selection of other finds covering the last six centuries which were also well received.

This photo shows the cool and calm before the day began in earnest, we hope to receive permission to display some of the day's activities in due course.

 

Another Privy and Ash Pit

A few years ago we excavated a privy and its associated ash pit at a cottage built around 1810. Despite the below ground structure being seldom seen (ie except when completely emptying the pit) we were initially surprised that so much trouble had been taken in the construction of an arch between the two components. However, it soon became obvious that this is the most practical and economical solution not some decorative flourish by the builder! 

To bridge a gap wider than the length of a house-brick without using bricks would require some form of lintel, whether of wood, iron or stone. The first two options would not be ideal in a perpetually wet environment and stone would be more expensive. This explains why we find the earlier pattern repeated at our current site in almost identical form albeit slightly larger in keeping with the comparative size of the building.

Partially collapsed arch found at current excavation

Smaller arch at earlier excavation

Progress at the Pub

In the month since we started our latest project we've made excellent progress and uncovered many interesting features although we've barely scratched the surface, metaphorically speaking!

The many wall foundations and surfaces we've discovered so far demonstrate how the structure of the public house part of the building has changed over the course of its 300 year history. 

At the front, and extending outside the walls, we found the cellar entrance:

 

The east wall has been rebuilt some time after 1860 to incorporate a bay window (probably!):

 

 

 

 

Below the level of a partially intact  brick floor we found a cobbled surface which we have yet to investigate:

Beside the front entrance porch we found a brick path which also ran around the side of the pub:

Amongst demolition material on the site we found many pieces of a horse harness with various straps, buckles and pivots attached (the piece at the bottom is about 120mm wide). It appears to be a 'skidding harness' used for pulling along logs and so forth:

We found a path on the opposite side of the pub to that mentioned above. This matches perfectly with an estate plan drawn up in 1871.

We have yet to break ground over the rear of the property, an area which we know saw considerable alteration during the 19th century. No doubt the building, adaptation and demolition of the kitchen, brewhouse, wash-house and other areas will take much untangling!

We'll be using photogrammetry where appropriate as an aid to recording. Even a casual test without scales or proper cleaning of the archaeology shows extremely encouraging results:

Click the image above or visit this link to view the original in 3D.

New Project Getting Underway

Just a few days after completing our last project we'll be embarking on a new adventure to look for traces of this building:

The roots of this public house can be traced back two and a half centuries but an inn may have stood on this important thoroughfare for much longer. Hopefully our investigations will provide some clues.

Project Complete

Our latest project is now complete and the report can be found via the Reports page. We didn't manage to find the suspected medieval kiln but we have added to knowledge about the manufacture and distribution of 15th century floor tiles in Staffordshire and Shropshire. Add in the results of our excavations of the water supply features, a dam and a rare type of water management mechanism and the project has to be considered a resounding success.

Here's a photograph showing the tile fragments recovered, they include at least three different patterns, all of which have parallels in abbeys and churches in the West Midlands and Wales. All appear to be wasters, tiles that had some degree of defect in manufacture but some are clearly worse than others, for example the three yellow tiles in the column left of centre which have no glaze and clay from the kiln stuck to the upper surface.