One of our teams is lucky enough to be beginning an excavation at the spectacular Newark Castle today. The aim is to uncover additional information about the historical layout of the castle by revealing a stable building that stood next to the gatehouse 200 years ago. The building was partially located by Salford Archaeology in 2018, and sections of a wall are illustrated on plans and drawings dating from 1823 to 1885. Our 20m x 5m trench should expose the structure in its entirety.
As well as offering a glimpse into the castle’s historical evolution, our findings will play a crucial role in shaping the next phase for the castle: the development of the Gatehouse as a visitor attraction, with a new community facility in the location of the former stables. It is hoped that the remains of the stable, depending on preservation, can be exposed and tastefully incorporated into the new space.
You never know what you’re going to uncover on a dig, especially on a site as rich in history as our own spectacular Newark Castle. It’s been the home of a bishop, seen the death of King John, been taken apart by townspeople rebuilding after the Civil War and much more, and I can’t wait to see which stories it will tell us next.
Sarah Clarke, Project Development Manager for the Newark Castle Building Bridges Project
This funky piece of late Iron Age pottery is a recent find at a site in Buckinghamshire. It’s a ceramic foot for a quad pod cauldron, imitating continental examples in metal. You can see it is heavily decorated with slashes, dots etc – this is probably skeumorphic, representing the rivet and hammer marks on the copper originals. Needless to say it’s extremely rare!
Harry Platts will be speaking to West Essex Archaeological Group (WEAG) on the preliminary results and findings from our late medieval industrial site at Jubilee House, Stratford. Harry’s talk will be tonight, at 8pm, at Woodford County High School for Girls. There is parking in the school site, or it is about 15 mins walk from Woodford tube station.
Our excavations at this site unveiled a series of timber revetments along the riverbanks, with two docks cut through them for boat landings.
The accumulation of debris behind these revetments provided evidence of a long history of demolished buildings. Additionally, we identified contemporary and later industrial activities, including tanning pits and lime mixing pits. Some of these pits contained organic remains, such as fragments of decorated leather, offering a vivid connection to the past.
Harry will discuss our intriguing findings that included a significant number of animal bones, suggesting on-site butchering and the use of skins and horns in the manufacturing of various goods.
If you’re in striking distance, we’d love to see you there!
If you enjoyed seeing the gold pendant, with possible Christian symbolism, from our cemetery site near Winchester on ‘Digging for Britain’ this week, here’s an Anglo-Saxon sword from the same site for our Friday Find.
About half of the 100+ burials contained grave goods, which, along with other aspects of the cemetery, suggest a community in the throes of religious evolution during the 7th century. This iron sword is 90cm long and was found in a grave with mineralised material, possibly wood from a scabbard.
Excitingly the xray seems to show a chevron pattern on the surface of the blade. Read more about the site hereor if you missed Digging for Britain (and fancy a weekend of binge-watching archaeology!), the whole series is available on iplayer
In 2015 PCA discovered approximately 30,000 small pieces of medieval stained glass in Westminster Abbey, during work to install the new Galleries. Some of these fragments have been integrated into the new windows in that area … and some have been recreated as biscuits by Dr Ella Hawkins! Thanks again Ella.
Excitement is building as our site on Sun Lane site in New Alresford, Hampshire, takes centre stage in an upcoming episode of ‘Digging For Britain.’ The site has yielded fascinating insights into the past, revealing three Bronze Age ring-ditches which later became the focal point of a large Anglo-Saxon cemetery.
Aerial views of the site.
Our investigation, commissioned by RPS, spans approximately 1 hectare on land earmarked for a Taylor Wimpey housing development. The Bronze Age ring-ditches were initially identified in aerial photographs decades ago. Trial trenching of these features in 2015 revealed the inhumation cemetery, which we now know is Anglo-Saxon, appearing to date to the 7th century AD.
These features have been eroded by ploughing, with some of the graves almost totally destroyed. There was no surviving evidence of a central burial contemporary with the ring-ditches. However, two poorly preserved Bronze Age urned cremation burials have been recovered from within the ring ditches and two crouched inhumations in the vicinity of the ring ditches may be prehistoric. We have excavated over a hundred Anglo Saxon inhumation graves, making this one of the largest cemeteries of that period in the River Itchen valley, where at least eight broadly contemporary cemeteries are known.
Excavation of the Anglo Saxon cemetery.
The Anglo Saxon cemetery appears to have been organised and divided into a number of groups of graves. Rows of graves, predominantly aligned east-west with heads facing west, suggest a carefully planned layout. The majority of burials conform to a standard pattern, supine and unaccompanied, while a few deviate with north-south orientations. Less than half of the graves were accompanied by grave goods, but these included a knife, a seax and a sword.
However, a truly spectacular find steals the spotlight – an intricately designed gold disc pendant, discovered in the poorly preserved grave of a young woman. The pendant, decorated with filigree forming a cruciform pattern, features eight omega scrolls and two central circles around a gold granule.
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This exquisite gold disc pendant has good parallels with examples known from Anglo Saxon cemeteries at St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton and Worthy Park, near Winchester. It is probably of 7th century date.
This fantastic find holds significance beyond its aesthetic appeal, with its explicitly Christian symbolism. Does this exquisite pendant offer a glimpse into the religious beliefs of the woman with whom it was buried? Other aspects of the cemetery suggest a community in the throes of religious evolution during the 7th century, coinciding with the establishment of an early minster church in nearby Winchester. The organisation of the cemetery, the chosen alignment of the graves with uniform, supine inhumations with no grave goods collectively point towards the possibility of this being an early Christian cemetery.
This episode of ‘Digging For Britain’ is due to be broadcast on BBC 2 at 8pm on Wednesday 3rd of January. Tune in for an enthralling episode to immerse you in Hampshire’s archaeological legacy, as well as adding a spectacular touch of bling to kick off the New Year in style!
PCA regional manager Paul McCulloch and post-Roman finds specialist Märit Gaimster pictured with Alice Roberts during filming.
We’re over the moon that our discovery of the previously unknown Turret 3a on Hadrian’s Wall has been nominated for Rescue Project of the Year at the 2024 Current Archaeology Awards!
Turret 3a is one of the largest turrets uncovered and the only known confirmed turret east of Newcastle. Excitingly, our investigation demonstrated that the potential for significant archaeological remains relating to Hadrian’s Wall can survive in the more built-up areas of urban Tyneside, with the discovery of the wall ditch and six berm obstacle pits as well as the remains of Turret 3a.
Voting is open until 5th February with the winner announced at the Current Archaeology Live 2024 conference at UCL’s Institute of Education on 24th February.
We’re extending the opportunity for volunteers to participate in the processing of finds from our ongoing excavations at the Central Winchester Regeneration site into the New Year.
From 10th January until 22nd February, on Wednesdays and Thursdays, volunteers will be welcome at PCA’s Winchester office to wash the artefacts; we still have plenty coming out of the ground!
Once booking has been made, you will receive an email to the address used in the booking, which will include detailed instructions on location, timings, etc.
For #FindsFriday, a well-worn whetstone, or honestone, from our Central Winchester Regeneration site. Dating back to the medieval period, this whetstone would have been used to quickly sharpen knives for cooking and crafting. The addition of a hole allowed the stone to be easily attached to clothing, ensuring portability and quick access. This artefact was unearthed from material behind the revetment of a medieval ‘brook’ in Trench 2.
Join us for an immersive heritage walk through the archaeological sites and historical landmarks of Southwark on Saturday 2nd December at 11am.
Explore the rich history of the area around our site at Avonmouth House, where Roman roads, mausoleums, temples and Tudor remains intertwine with post-medieval cattle burials, medieval inns and prisons!
The walk will begin at Avonmouth House, Avonmouth Road SE1 6NX at 11am and is expected to last 2-3 hours.
