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.
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| 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.