SWAG Fieldwork Opportunity at Hanley Swan, Worcs. December 2011 Onwards

As part of the Hanleys Village Society Community Archaeology Event for 2011, supervised by Derek Hurst and Jon Webster of WHEAS, several test pits were dug around the villages of Hanley Castle and Hanley Swan to search for evidence of occupation in Saxon times. However, one of these pits was dug on the presumed site of the vanished Tudor and Georgian mansion at Blackmore Park, using results obtained with the new SWAG resistivity meter in July. The pit contained typical finds from a demolished building, but the features shown to be in that position (two possible walls meeting at right-angles) on the resistivity plot were not found.

Derek Hurst wants to reopen the test pit and dig deeper to learn whether these features are present in that position. If they're not found, the test pit may be widened into a small trench to see if the pit just missed them. This will prove or disprove the usefulness of the resistivity meter on this occasion. Although consent from WHEAS HER and Field Section management has not been sought (and is not legally required as this event will be on private property on an unscheduled site), the landowners have agreed to Derek's request and we will have supervision from him and SWAG member Dr. Alan Tyler, who holds a PhD in archaeology and has previous experience of supervising amateur excavation work and subsequent finds processing. Any finds from the test pit remain the property of the landowner. SWAG will take responsibility for washing and marking important finds and only finds of special interest will be taken to WHEAS for examination, after which they will be returned to the landowner if they wish.

This exercise will take several days to complete and because the weather is so unsettled this time of year it will be done on a day-by-day basis, given suitable weather, with the test pit covered between digging days. Besides digging the test pit, a survey will be carried out with the SWAG digital theodolite and survey gear to produce a contour map of the field, to be combined with the resistivity survey data, which will help to put the site into its landscape context.

Visits are as frequent as is practicable. If you would like to take part or just wish to know more, please contact Richard Axe of SWAG via or telephone on 01531 633 004.

 

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The Historic Environment and Archaeology Service processes finds from sites that range in date from prehistoric to modern. The Service also identifies finds brought in by members of the public, and works in close co-operation with members of local archaeological societies, who collect finds through activities such as field walking.

As a volunteer, you can make a valuable contribution to the work of the Historic Environment and Archaeology Service, while extending your archaeological knowledge and skills. Finds processing affords an excellent opportunity to work with our team of experienced archaeologists. Training is provided, so even if you are completely new to archaeology you will soon learn about many types of finds, including pottery, building materials, glass, metal and stone.

You may work with WHEAS for as much or as little time as you wish, though for the time being they can only supervise volunteers during our normal working hours (8.30-17.00).

During the summer of 2008, volunteers also took part in excavations at the Butts in Worcester, ahead of the construction of the new Library and History Centre. We are now processing thousands of artefacts recovered from this important Roman site.

If you would like to work on these and many other interesting finds please contact

Dennis Williams on 01905 855495, or email dwilliams2@worcestershire.gov.uk

• WHEAS leaflet (This is a pdf document and can be read with Acrobat Reader or a similar program.)

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Opportunities in archaeology outside the local area

• British Archaeological Jobs and Resources

www.swag-online.org.uk