Test Pitting

Busy, busy, busy weekend. Thank goodness for the Blue Lias pub!!!

Hubbie rocked up at the Blue Lias Caravan park on Friday and I joined him after I finished work.

Spent the afternoon sorting the back of my car out. It was seriously back-end heavy and the steering was very light!.

Saturday dawned overcast but not raining, in fact quite a nice day. Trolled up to the site for 8am, put up gazebo and set out table for refreshments. Had a quick wander over to the wooded area to decide the day’s tactics. It’s Paul’s (AOC) last day on site as he’s leaving us for the seaside town of Brighton where he and his family are moving to. Paul you are missed already my dear.

People started arriving at 9.45 and we soon had a good crowd. After welcoming everyone on site and doing the normal RA, facilities etc., handed over to Paul who walked us up to the wooded area.

The reason for choosing the wooded area is that it’s an enigma. The LIDAR it shows as ridge and furrow (Medieval), with the trees being added as late as the 1800’s. So the question is, is there anything below the ridge and furrow, hence the test pits.

Paul detailed the method of test pitting for the day and we set off to lay out the 1^st of 25 test pits. The majority of them where on the edge of the wooded area, with 5 being set in amongst the trees.

The soil was atrocious! It had yipped down with rain the night before and this had made the surface very claggy, and it wasn’t long before everyone was at least 3 inches taller! Digging the pits themselves was also a chore. Not even the mattock would break through in some pits. Each pit was very different in its layout, with the top soil being anything from 5 inches to 2ft in depth. This was then replaced by a sub-soil, and then an interface layer before hitting the natural geology.

Regarding anything interesting, I think the answer to that is no and is a negative positive as it means that from what we can see in the test pits, there is probably no archaeology under the wooded area. However, in one pit, it is thought there might be evidence of a posthole with an upright stone (which is unusual) being used as packing. Regarding finds, well surprisingly enough, some Roman was found and this came from the pits within the wooded area.

Metal detectors had been brought along to determine any metal finds on the spoil heaps, but nothing was forthcoming. This ground did not want to give up its secrets today.

We had some volunteers who turned up with their children which was grand to see. All the kids got stuck into their respective pits and I think a good time was had by all.

I certainly left that night with a satisfied grin on my face.