Residents of a Charnwood Forest village, alongside volunteers from around the region, got the chance to dig deeper into the history of the Geopark, following a successful weekend of archaeological exploration.
Over the course of Saturday 2 May and Sunday 3 May, we hosted the first of three Community Archaeology Digs. With the support of our funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we have contracted the University of Lincoln, in partnership with the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS), to organise the digs and conduct the post-excavation analysis, which will help to give us an invaluable insight into how human activity has developed over the centuries in parts of Charnwood Forest.
This first dig was held across the length and breadth of Newtown Linford and, although the excavations were supervised by the professionals, the vast majority of the digging, discovery, cleaning and sorting of finds was done by over 100 amazing volunteers! Over the course of the weekend over 21 test pits, each measuring 1 metre-square, were dug in gardens and other locations across the village. Some pits unearthed 18th, 19th, and 20th century bottles, clay pipes, and metal work, while others uncovered evidence of the medieval village, including pottery older than the first documented mention of Newtown Linford! There were even hints of prehistoric activity too.
Prof. Carenza Lewis, of the University of Lincoln, speaking about the Community Digs to the BBC said “There’s a bit of a pattern coming up in these Charnwood villages. We’re starting to get a bit of an insight that the area was perhaps not very intensively used in the Roman period.” Prof. Lewis also noted that a cluster of pottery could possibly be dated to around the 1100’s, noting “That’s pushing back the earliest documented record of Newtown Linford by 100 years or more, so at the moment the pottery is earlier than written history, which is quite cool.”
It was a fantastic weekend for all involved, as we were joined by people of all ages and backgrounds, including homeowners, young families and retirees – everyone got hands-on in one way or another, and there was an abundance of tea and cake to keep the energy levels high! A huge thank you from the Geopark, and our archaeological partners at Lincoln and Leicester to all the homeowners who allowed test pits to be dug in their gardens, and also to the amazing volunteers who got their hands dirty exploring Charnwood Forest’s past.
If you’d like to join in either of the upcoming digs at Stanton-Under-Bardon on the 16th & 17th May, or at Woodhouse and Woodhouse Eaves on 4th & 5th July, you can find out more and sign up via the dedicated page on our website. We can’t wait to see you there to uncover more of the Geopark’s hidden past.