Tag Archives: Surrey

National Archaeology Week is coming

CBA logoTomorrow sees the start of National Archaeology Week (intriguingly it runs for 9 days – 12th July – 20th August) and there is a wide and very varied series of events around the country that anyone can join in with. The Portable Antiquities Scheme is going to be at a huge variety of these, so if you see someone in one of our T-shirts, please come and say hello. If you are on Facebook, then perhaps consider joining their group.

Examples of activities include:

The Old Oswestry Hillfort Festival 2008
Sat 19 July 11.00-16.00
The Recreation Ground, Llwyn Road, Oswestry (next to Old Oswestry hillfort ~ follow signs for hillfort from A5 ~ parking at Gatacre Sports Ground a 5 minute walk from the venue) A celebration of Old Oswestry hillfort and its place in the community with hands-on activities, demonstrations, information and fun for all the family. Old Oswestry is probably the finest hillfort in the Welsh Marches and has recently been provided with both improved physical access and enhanced public information. This festival will take place on the Recreation Ground right next to the hillfort and will include activities for all ages e.g. clay-working, wattle-and-daubing and a chance to sample some recipes from the past. There will be demonstrations of lost skills, Portable Antiquities Scheme Archaeological Finds Identification and guided walks around the hillfort as well as a display telling the story of the site and presenting current and future plans. FREE EVENT!
Contact: Shelagh Lewis, Old Oswestry Local Archaeology Group, .
T: 01743 271706
E: shelagh228@MSN.com

Peter Reavill, our FLO for Herefordshire and Shropshire will be there and he says:

“I will be running one of the standard archaeological identification sessions so people can bring anything with Mud on It to me for ID / recording. The Wrexham Heritage Society will be there with a metal detecting display of finds and also talking about what they do. The guided walks of the hillfort should be fab as this sort of thing hasn’t happened for free before. More information about the hillfort see http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/history/2003/12/old_oswestry.shtml or
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.00100100101300800200c

Archaeology units are also getting in on the act, for example a young consultancy in the East End of London, LP Archaeology are running an event around their Prescot Street dig. If you haven’t seen their excellent website, then it is definitely one of the best excavation sites I have seen. They have flickr feeds, video, blogs and local stories to vividly retell the tale of the area. Well done. They will be having a series of talks that you need to book into, make sure you do!

The Scheme is provisionally involved in the following events. Call the named person (details found under www.finds.org.uk/involved/contacts.php) to make sure the event is still going ahead. Some events are under threat of being cancelled due to local factors.

Day FLO Event Location Times
12-Jul-08 Anna Tyacke (Cornwall) Finds Day & Display of Finds. Also Tour of Archaeological Site Boden, Manaccan, Lizard, Cornwall 11:00 onwards
12-Jul-08 Frances McIntosh (Cheshire, Gt Manchester & Merseyside) Finds Day & Object Handling Warrington Museum, ? no details
12-Jul-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) YAC (not public event) Lancaster City Museum, Lancashire 10:00-13:00
12-Jul-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) Finds Day & Object Handling Lancaster City Museum, Lancashire 14:00-17:00
12-Jul-08 Anja Rohde (Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire) Finds Day & Object Handling Chesterfield Museum, St Mary’s Gate, Chesterfield, Derbyshire 10:00-14:00
12-Jul-08 Wendy Scott (Leicestershire & Rutland) Finds Day, Roman coin Display, Children’s Activities Jewry Wall Museums, Leicester, Leicestershire 11:00-16:00
12-Jul-08 Naomi Payne (Somerset) Finds Day Wells Museum, Somerset 11:00-15:00
12-Jul-08 Katie Hinds (Wiltshire) Finds Day Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum, Wiltshire 10:00-16:00
12-Jul-08 Kurt Adams (Gloucestershire & Avon) Finds Day Kings Weston Roman Villa, near Bristol 10:30-16:00
12-Jul-08 David Williams (Surrey) Finds Day Guildford Museum, Surrey 11:00-13:00
12-Jul-08 Frank Basford Finds Day Newport Roman Villa, Isle of Wight 10:30-15:30
12-Jul-08 Ciorstaidh Hayward Trevarthen (Dorset) Finds Day Priest’s House Museum and Garden, Wimborne Minster, Dorset 10:00-16:00
12-Jul-08 Julian Watters (Hertfordshire & Bedfordshire) Finds Day Luton Museum, Luton no details
12-Jul-08 Lisa Staves (North Lincolnshire) Family Activities North Lincolnshire Museum, Scunthorpe 11:00-15:00
12-Jul-08 Laura Burnett (Sussex) Finds Day Old Town Hall Museum, Hastings, East Sussex 11:00-15:00
12-Jul-08 Liz Andrews-Wilson (N&E Yorkhire) Finds Day & Object Handling Yorkshire Museum, York 11:00-16:00
12-Jul-08 Kate Sutton (London) Finds Day Kingston Museum, London no details
12-Jul-08 Rachel Atherton (Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire) Finds Day, Object Handling & Children’s Activities Derby Museum & Art Gallery, Derbyshire 11:00-16:00
12-Jul-08 Mark Lodwick (Wales) Family Activities National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon 11:00-16:00
12-Jul-08 Mark Lodwick (Wales) Family Activities National History Museum, St Fagans, Vale of Glamorgan no details
13-Jul-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) Finds Day & Talk (PAS) – part of CBA North West event Ravenglass, Cumbria no details
13-Jul-08 Katie Hinds (Wiltshire) Finds Day Lydiard Park, Swindon 13:00-16:00
13-Jul-08 Kurt Adams (Gloucestershire & Avon) Finds Day Grove Park, Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset no details
13-Jul-08 Laura Burnett (Sussex) Finds Day East Grinstead Museum, West Sussex 14:00-17:00
13-Jul-08 Rob Webley (Hampshire) Finds Day Fort Cumberland, Portsmouth, Hampshire 10:00-16:30
13-Jul-08 Mark Lodwick (Wales) Family Activities National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon 11:00-16:00
13-Jul-08 Mark Lodwick (Wales) Family Activities National History Museum, St Fagans, Vale of Glamorgan no details
14-Jul-08 Amy Cooper (S&W Yorkshire) Finds Day Doncaster Museum, South Yorkshire 14:00-16:00
14-Jul-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) Object Handling for Schools (not public event) Senhouse Roman Museum, Maryport, Cumbria no details
14-Jul-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) Finds Day & Object Handling Senhouse Roman Museum, Maryport, Cumbria 13:00-17:00
15-Jul-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) Object Handling for Schools (not public event) Beacon, Whitehaven, Cumbria 10:00-12:00
15-Jul-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) Finds Day Beacon, Whitehaven, Cumbria 13:00-16:00
15-Jul-08 Laura Burnett (Sussex) Finds Day, Object Handling & Family Activities Marlipins Museum, Shorham, West Sussex 11:00-14:00
15-Jul-08 Rob Webley (Hampshire) Finds Day Basing House, Basingstoke, Hampshire no details
16-Jul-08 Amy Cooper (S&W Yorkshire) Finds Day Clifton Park Museum, Rotherham, South Yorkshire 14:00-16:00
16-Jul-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) Object Handling for Schools (not public event) Penrith Museum, Cumbria no details
16-Jul-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) Finds Day & Object Handling Penrith Museum, Cumbria 13:00-17:00
17-Jul-08 Laura Burnett (Sussex) Finds Day, Object Handling & Family Activities Crawley Museum, Goffs Park House, West Sussex 14:00-17:00
17-Jul-08 Ros Tyrrell (Buckinghamshire) Talk (PAS) Wycombe Museum, Berkshire 12:30
17-Jul-08 Naomi Payne (Somerset) Talk (PAS) Langport Library, Somerset 14:30
17-Jul-08 Liz Andrews-Wilson (N&E Yorkhire) with YAT Finds Day Barley Hall, 2 Coffee Yard, off Stonegate, York 11:00-11.45 & 13.15-14:00
17-Jul-08 Liz Andrews-Wilson (N&E Yorkhire) with YAT Talk (PAS) – pre-book Barley Hall, 2 Coffee Yard, off Stonegate, York 12:00-13:00
17-Jul-08 Mark Lodwick (Wales) Family Activities National History Museum, St Fagans, Vale of Glamorgan no details
18-Jul-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) Finds Day Kendal Museum, Cumbria 13:00-16:00
18-Jul-08 Rob Webley (Hampshire) Finds Day Andover Museum, Hampshire 11:00-16:00
18-Jul-08 Mark Lodwick (Wales) Talk (PAS) National History Museum, St Fagans, Vale of Glamorgan no details
19-Jul-08 Anna Tyacke (Cornwall) Egyptian Extravaganza (Family Activities) Royal Cornwall Museum, River Street, Truro, Cornwall 10:00-16:30
19-Jul-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) Finds Day, Object Handling & Family/Children’s Activities Lancaster City Museum, Lancashire 11:00-13:00 & 14:00-17:00
19-Jul-08 Laura Burnett (Sussex) Finds Day Chichester Museum, West Sussex 10:30-13:30
19-Jul-08 Anja Rohde (Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire) Finds Day & Object Handling Milgate Museum, 48 Milgate, Newark, Nottinghamshire 10:30-12:30
19-Jul-08 Anja Rohde (Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire) YAC (not public event) Milgate Museum, 48 Milgate, Newark, Nottinghamshire no details
19-Jul-08 Frances McIntosh (Cheshire, Gt Manchester & Merseyside) Finds Day & Object Handling Manchester Museum no details
19-Jul-08 Steve Ashby (Northamptonshire) Object Handling English Heritage Festival of History, Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire 09:30-18:00
19-Jul-08 Ros Tyrrell (Buckinghamshire) Finds Day Buckinghamshire County Museum, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire no details
19-Jul-08 Kurt Adams (Gloucestershire & Avon) Finds Day Bristol City Museum 10:30-16:00
19-Jul-08 Rob Webley (Hampshire) & Ciorstaidh Hayward Trevarthen (Dorset) Finds Day Red House Museum, Christchurch, Dorset 10:00-12:00 & 13:00-15:00
19-Jul-08 Liz Andrews-Wilson (N&E Yorkhire) with YAT Finds Day & Displays DIG, St Saviourgate, York 11:00-15:00
19-Jul-08 Kate Sutton (London) Object Handling Museum of London no details
19-Jul-08 Peter Reavill (Herefordshire & Shropshire) Finds Day Old Oswestry Hillfort (Llwyn Recreation Ground), Oswestry, Shropshire 11:00-16:00
19-Jul-08 Mark Lodwick (Wales) Talk (PAS) National Museum, Cardiff no details
19-Jul-08 Rob Collins (North East) Finds Day & Display Binchester Roman Fort, Co. Durham 10:00-17:00
19-Jul-08 David Williams (Surrey) Finds Identification and other activities Surrey History Centre, Working, Surrey 10:00-16:00
20-Jul-08 Steve Ashby (Northamptonshire) Object Handling English Heritage Festival of History, Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire 09:30-18:00
20-Jul-08 Lizzie Gill (Cambridgeshire and Peterborough) Finds Day & Family Activities Wandlebury Iron Age Fort and Country Park, Cambridgeshire 11:00-16:00
20-Jul-08 Katie Hinds (Wiltshire) Finds Day & Mystery Object Competition Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes, Wilshire 11:00-16:00
20-Jul-08 Kurt Adams (Gloucestershire & Avon) Finds Day Warmley Gardens, South Gloucestershire 10:30-16:00
20-Jul-08 Kate Sutton (London) Object Handling Museum of London no details
28-Jul-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) Finds Day & Family Activities Tullie House Museum, Carlisle, Cumbria 13:00-16:00
29-Jul-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) Finds Day & Object Handling Dock Museum, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria 10:30-12:30 & 13:30-16:30
30-Jul-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) Finds Day & Object Handling The Guildhall, Carlisle, Cumbria 13:00-16:00
01-Aug-08 Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria) Object Handling Tullie House Museum, Carlisle, Cumbria 13:00-16:00

So if you’re interested in Archaeology, then please do support this excellent week and the work of all involved.

Image feed by county

Andrew Larcombe asked me by Twitter yesterday for a feed of images from the database for Surrey. This could be reused on the Surrey Archaeology Society website. Andrew has redeveloped their site using Drupal as the content management system, with jQuery as the javascript framework. They have some nice features (flickr feed, presentations on slideshare) and I think that they are one of the more advanced archaeological society websites that I have come across. Well done Andrew…..

I’ve just released a feed that can be configured by county to return the last 25 images, at present it does not contain any descriptive text, would that be useful? Suggestions welcome. If you want to use this feed, you need to go to this url:

http://www.finds.org.uk/rss/imagesFedbyCounty.php?county={variable}

The variables that you can choose are:

AVON
BEDFORDSHIRE
BERKSHIRE
BLAENAU GWENT
BRIDGEND
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
CAERPHILLY
CAMBRIDGESHIRE
CARDIFF
CARMARTHENSHIRE
CEREDIGION
CHANNEL ISLANDS
CHESHIRE
CLEVELAND
CONWY
CORNWALL
CUMBRIA
DENBIGHSHIRE
DERBYSHIRE
DEVON
DORSET
DURHAM
EAST SUSSEX
ESSEX
FLINTSHIRE
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
GREATER LONDON
GREATER MANCHESTER
GWYNEDD
HAMPSHIRE
HEREFORDSHIRE
HERTFORDSHIRE
HUMBERSIDE
ISLE OF ANGLESEY
ISLE OF MAN
ISLE OF WIGHT
ISLES OF SCILLY
KENT
LANCASHIRE
LEICESTERSHIRE
LINCOLNSHIRE
MERSEYSIDE
MERTHYR TYDFIL
MONMOUTHSHIRE
NEATH PORT TALBOT
NEWPORT
NORFOLK
NORTH YORKSHIRE
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
NORTHUMBERLAND
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
OXFORDSHIRE
PEMBROKESHIRE
POWYS
RHONDDA CYNON TAFF
SHROPSHIRE
SOMERSET
SOUTH YORKSHIRE
STAFFORDSHIRE
SUFFOLK
SURREY
SWANSEA
TORFAEN
TYNE AND WEAR
VALE OF GLAMORGAN
WARWICKSHIRE
WEST MIDLANDS
WEST SUSSEX
WEST YORKSHIRE
WILTSHIRE
WREXHAM
WORCESTERSHIRE
RUTLAND
EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE
NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE
KINGSTON UPON HULL
NORTH EAST LINCOLNSHIRE

These can be upper case, or lower case.

I’ll work on a more advanced script when I re-release the database so you can do more things with the feed.

Under the Plough: archaeology of the topsoil

I’ve been asked to publicise the conference outlined below, so here we go!

CBA South East Annual Conference 2007 (in association with the Department of Classical and Archaeological Studies, the University of Kent)

Saturday 10 November 2007
Tickets:
CBA SE Members £15.00
Non-Members £17.50

Cheques should be made payable to:
CBA South East
University of Kent at Medway
Chatham Maritime
Chatham
Kent
ME4 4AG

Tickets Available From:

Steve & Eva Corbett
4 Ditchling Close
Eastbourne
East Sussex
BN23 8LS

PROGRAMME

09.30 Registration

Refreshments available in the Pilkington Suite

10.00 Introduction
John Mills, Chairman, CBA SE

10.05 The South East Research Framework: Project Update
Jake Weekes, Heritage Conservation Group Kent CC

10.20 Interpreting Lithic Scatters
Chris Butler (tbc), Mid-Sussex Field Archaeology Team

11.00 Coffee/Tea
Pilkington Suite

11.20 Field survey on the Lincolnshire Wolds: characterizing Roman settlement in a downland setting
Steve Willis, University of Kent

12.00 Fieldwalking: Theory, Method and Practice
Jeremy Taylor (tbc), University of Leicester

12.40 Questions

12.45 Lunch

Coffee/Tea – Pilkington Suite

1.25 CBA SE AGM All welcome to attend

1.50 The Portable Antiquities Scheme: More Than Just Small Finds
Liz Andrews-Wilson, Finds Liaison Officer, Sussex

2.20 Digging Hoards and Scatters: Some Case Studies
David Williams, Finds Liaison Officer, Surrey

2.40 Hands Across The Divide: Detectorists and Archaeologists working together
Derek Page, Brighton and Hove Metal Detecting Club

3.00 Coffee/Tea
Pilkington Suite

3.15 Interpreting Anglo-Saxon Metalwork Scatters
Laura McLean

3.55 The Archaeology of Ploughsoil: Theoretical Overview
Christopher Evans, Cambridge University

4.35 Questions

5.00 Close

Shield boss

The 24 Hour Museum recently picked up on a shield boss that David Williams, our Finds Liaison Officer for Surrey, had recorded. This object was reported in the local paper and the website featured it on their front page. The object’s full report can be found by looking on our database for SUR-A033A8.

Shield boss

David has associated this object with:

Henry Duke of Buckingham was heavily involved in the Wars of the Roses and was a key supporter of Richard III who came to the throne on 26th June 1483. Buckingham soon attempted a rebellion in the Midlands and Wales. Richard moved against him on 11 October and Buckingham’s support deserted him (down to even his servants). He was executed in Salisbury on November 2nd 1483. Henry is also one of the prime suspects in the murder of the two Princes in the Tower of London. He appears prominently in Shakespeare’s Richard III.

For further information on this discovery, you can read more at the 24 Hour Museum…..

National Archaeology Week events

Throughout National Archaeology Week (14 – 22 July) the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) will be running a series of archaeological finds identification and recording sessions at local museums and other venues: often these will include a variety of other activities for adults and children. On the 14 July, in conjunction with experts at the British Museum and local museums, there will be at least one Finds Roadshow in every part of the country.

14 July (national event)

North of England
Grosvenor Museum, Chester, Cheshire – 10.30-16.30 (contact: Frances McIntosh – T. 0151 478 4259).
Museum of Antiquities, Newcastle-upon-Tyne – 10.00-16.00 (contact: Rob Collins – T. 0191 222 5076; robert.collins@ncl.ac.uk).
Museum of Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire – 12.30-15.30 (contact: Dot Bruns – T. 01772 532175; Dot.Bruns@mus.lancscc.gov.uk ) (educational event only).

West Midlands
Roman Alcester Heritage Centre, Alcester, Warwickshire – 11.30-14.30 (contact: Angie Bolton – T. 01905 721130; abolton@cityofworcester.gov.uk).

East Midlands
Chesterfield Museum, Chesterfield, Derbyshire – 11.00-15.00 (contact: Anja Rohde – T. 01332 716665; anja.rohde@derby.gov.uk).
Jewry Wall Museum, Leicester, Leicestershire – 11.30-16.00 (contact: Wendy Scott – T. 0116 265 8325; wscott@leics.gov.uk).
Wooton Hall Park, Northampton, Northamptonshire – 10.00-15.00 (contact: Steven Ashby – T. 01604 237249; sashby@northamptonshire.gov.uk).

East
Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire – times tbc (contact: Philippa Walton – T. 01223 717573; philippa.walton@cambridgeshire.gov.uk).
Verulamium Museum, St Albans, Hertfordshire – 11.00-16.30 (contact: Julian Watters – T. 01727 751 826; j.watters@stalbans.gov.uk).

South West
Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, Devon – 10.30-16.00 (contact: Danielle Wootton – T. 01392 665858; danielle.wootton@exeter.gov.uk).
Salisbury Museum, Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire – 10.00-16.00 (contact: Katie Hinds – T. 01722 332151; katiehinds@salisburymuseum.org.uk).
Wimborne Minster, Dorset – 10.00-16.00 (contact: Ciorstaidh Hayward Trevarthen – T. 01305 224921; c.h.trevarthen@dorsetcc.gov.uk).

South East
Havant Museum, Havant, Hampshire – 10.30-15.30 (contact: Rob Webley – T. 01962 848269; RWebley@winchester.gov.uk).
Guildford Museum, Guildford, Surrey – 11.00-13.00 (contact: David Williams – T. 01737 247296; david.williams@surreycc.gov.uk).
Maidstone Museum, Maidstone, Kent – 10.00-16.00 (contact: Andrew Richardson – T. 01622 221544; andrew.richardson@kent.gov.uk).
tbc Michael Faraday School, Southwark, London – times tbc (contact: Kate Sutton – T. 020 78145733; ksutton@museumoflondon.org.uk) (educational event only).
Newport Roman Villa, Newport, Isle of Wight – 10.00-16.00 (contact: Frank Basford – T. 01983 529963; frank.basford@iow.gov.uk).
Risborough Festival – Risborough Community Centre, Risborough, Buckinghamshire – 14.00-17.00 (contact: Ros Tyrell – T. 01296 624519; rtyrrell@buckscc.gov.uk).

15 July
Archaeological Excavation, Bigbury-on Sea, Devon – times tbc (contact: Danielle Wootton – as above) (educational event only).
Grosvenor Museum, Chester, Cheshire – 10.30-16.30 (contact: Frances McIntosh – as above).
Roman Town House, Dorchester, Dorset – 11.00-16.00 (contact: Ciorstaidh Hayward Trevarthen – as above).
Maritime Museum, Lancaster, Lancashire – 14.00-16.00 (contact: Dot Bruns – as above) (educational event only).
Verulamium Museum, St Albans, Hertfordshire – 14.30-16.30 (contact: Julian Watters –as above).

16 July
Burton Family & Local History Centre, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire – 10.00-12.00 & 13.00-15.00 (contact: Caroline Johnson – T. 0121 303 4636; caroline_a_johnson@birmingham.gov.uk) (educational event only).
Gosport Discovery Centre, Gosport, Hampshire – 10.30-15.30 (contact: Rob Webley – as above).
Wakefield Museum, Wakefield, West Yorkshire – 14.00-16.00 (contact: Amy Cooper – T. 01924 305359; acooper@wyjs.org.uk).

17 July
Rickinghall Church, Rickinghall, Suffolk – 14.00-18.00 (contacts: Faye Minter & Jane Carr – T. 01284 352 449; faye.minter@et.suffolkcc.gov.uk).
St Chad’s Church, Stafford, Staffordshire – 10.30-14.30 (contact: Caroline Johnson – as above).

18 July
Clifton Park Museum, Rotherham, South Yorkshire – 14.00-16.00 (contact: Amy Cooper – as above).
Museum of Archaeology, Southampton, Hampshire – 10.00-15.00 (contact: Rob Webley – as above).
Museum of Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire – 14.30-16.30 (contact: Dot Bruns – as above). (educational event only).
Rugby Museum & Art Gallery, Rugby, Warwickshire – 13.00-14.30 (contact: Angie Bolton – as above).
Swindon Museum, Swindon – 10.00-12.30 & 13.30-16.00 (contact: Katie Hinds – as above).
Warrington Museum, Warrington, Cheshire – 13.00-16.30 (contact: Frances McIntosh – as above).

19 July
Lancaster City Museum, Lancaster, Lancashire – 14.30-16.30 (contact: Dot Bruns – as above).
Mansfield Woodhouse Library, Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire – 10.30-14.00 (contacts: Rachel Atherton & Anja Rohde – T. 01332 716665 ; rachel.atherton@derby.gov.uk).
tbc St Chad’s Church, Stafford, Staffordshire – times tbc 09.30-11.30 & 12.45-14.45 (contact: Caroline Johnson – as above) (educational event only).

20 July
Alton Museum, Alton, Hampshire – 10.30-15.30 (contact: Rob Webley – as above).
Museum of Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire – 14.30-16.30 (contact: Dot Bruns – as above).
Norton Priory, Halton, Merseyside – 12.00-16.30 (contact: Frances McIntosh – as above).

21 July
Andover Museum, Andover, Hampshire – 10.30-15.30 (contact: Rob Webley – as above).
Buckinghamshire County Museum, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire – 11.00-16.00 (contact: Ros Tyrell – as above).
The Roman Baths Museum, Bath, North East Somerset – 10.00-16.00 (contact: Kurt Adams – T. 0117 9222613; kurt_adams@bristol-city.gov.uk).
Bolton Museum, Bolton, Greater Manchester – 10.00-16.30 (contact: Frances McIntosh – as above).
Donington Manor House, Donington Le Heath, Leicestershire – 11.00-16.00 (contact: Wendy Scott – as above).
Guildhall in Priory Park, Chichester, West Sussex – 10.00-13.00 & 14.00-16.00 (contact: Liz Andrews-Wilson – T. 01273 405731; FLO@sussexpast.co.uk).
Chippenham Museum, Chippenham, Wiltshire – times tbc (contact: Katie Hinds – as above).
Kirton Living History Festival, Kirton, Suffolk – 11.00-17.00 (contact: Faye Minter & Jane Carr – as above).
Lancaster City Museum, Lancaster, Lancashire – 10.30-15.30 (contact: Dot Bruns – as above).
Leatherhead & District Museum, Leatherhead, Surrey – 10.00-16.00 (contact: David Williams – as above).
Museum of London, London – times tbc (contact: Kate Sutton – as above).
Millgate Museum, Newark, Nottinghamshire – 10.30-12.30 (followed by an educational event only from 14.00-16.00) (contacts: Rachel Atherton & Anja Rohde – as above).
North Lincolnshire Museum, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire – 11.00-15.00 (contact: Lisa Staves – T. 01724 843533; lisa.staves@northlincs.gov.uk).
Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, Cornwall – 10.00-16.00 (contact: Anna Tyacke – T. 01872 272 205, ext 219; anna.tyacke@royalcornwallmuseum.org.uk).
Wells Museum, Wells, Somerset – 12.00-16.00 (contact: Naomi Payne – T. 01823 320200; NCPayne@somerset.gov.uk).
Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock, Oxfordshire – 10.30-16.30 (contact: Charlotte Burrill – T. 01635 519534; cburrill@westberks.gov.uk).

22 July
Devizes Museum, Devizes, Wiltshire – 11.00-16.00 (contact: Katie Hinds – see above).
Museum in the Docklands, London – times tbc (contact: Kate Sutton – see above).
Sefton Museum, Sefton, Merseyside – 14.00-17.00 (contact: Frances McIntosh – see above).
Woodbury Castle & Common, Woodbury, Devon – times tbc (contact: Danielle Wootton – see above).

Google maps and PAS data

Google maps badgeI’ve been monitoring Andrew Larcombe’s work on his demo site for a while to see what he comes up with next for his geomapping techniques. Tonight I found this demo:

AJAX map of finds from Surrey

Andrew’s implemented this by a combination of taking a freely available RSS feed from our database (register so that you can do this) and the use of screen scraping. I think it is quite a good way of displaying map point data from our database and is something I’d like to see more people trying to do. I guess it helps that Andrew is part of our development team at OAD though!

Anyone else want to see what they can manage to do? I’m sure Steve White at Online Archaeology will see this and try and raise it…..

Time Team at Eastry

Time Team visited Eastry in Kent for the Sunday 26th Feb. edition; and this site has a strong link to the Scheme. It is from here that the Saxon brooch (Avent class 6.1) that we use for our logo originated. The program featured Scheme staff quite prominently. Helen Geake, our Finds Adviser for Early Medieval artefacts (not numismatics) seems to be the main archaeological presenter these days, replacing Carenza Lewis. We also saw cameo roles for PJ Walton (I think – missed it as the phone rang) and David Williams (FLO for Surrey). I didn’t see Andrew Richardson the FLO for Kent, but then he was probably hiding anyway.

The progam, as usual, didn’t manage to discover what they were hoping to find; however it did feature metal detectorists working in close alliance with archaeologists prior to sinking the trenches with the ubiquitous JCB. Several of my fellow UCL alumni were the featured diggers – Raksha and Matt. However, it was quite an interesting broadcast and showed the first discovery of a windmill using geophysical survey, a lovely house in Kent with 12th Century wood work intact and a garden now riddled with big holes.

It also showed the reconstruction of an Anglo-Saxon palace, with Helen holding court over the artists. We went through all that when we designed West Mucking for the Pastexplorers site. I wonder how many times she changed her mind this time! Helen has this to say about the Scheme and the interaction with detectorists:

My ‘day job’ is working for the Portable Antiquities Scheme. We record finds made by members of the public, particularly metal detectorists. It is incredible how many highly important artefacts they find, and since the Portable Antiquities Scheme started recording these systematically across the country it’s been obvious that their finds are changing the face of British archaeology. Equally important is the fact that many of their finds come from archaeological deposits which have been smashed to bits by agricultural machinery, and we have got to come to terms with this too.

I’m now in charge of the PAS’s recording and research for the Anglo-Saxon to modern periods. I’ve had to learn more about the archaeology of different periods for this, and so it has been wonderful to do more Time Team programmes recently.