Work began at our new site a fortnight ago and in that time we've made two fascinating (and fairly important) discoveries. Firstly, in the first half of the 19th century, there was a 'whim-gin' or 'horse-gin' coal mine at the site which we now know gave the name 'Hell Hole' to the field.
The second discovery is rather older and equally important. Running alongside the south part of the mine area we've discovered a medieval cobbled surface which could be a track or something else. Whatever it turns out to be, from pottery finds we know it was in use in the 13th or 14th centuries! We have a couple of months to investigate further before the land returns to grazing use for the rest of the year.
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| Part of the cobbled surface |
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| South Staffordshire Whiteware dating to the 13th or 14th century. Just some of the 40+ potsherds discovered lying on top of the cobbled surface. |