Wickham House 2026 – Day #28 Blog (2nd June)

Part of a series of bulletins from the BAS excavations at Wickham House

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Attendees: Stuart, Millie, Chloe, Geoff, Julie, Lindsey, Sofia, Emma, Jill, Paul, Malcolm, Louise and Keith 

What a change in the weather (!!!) – with rain showers and occasional thunder/lightening in the middle distance, we had to take shelter in our cars on a number of occasions. However, we managed to spend pretty much a full day excavating – often still enjoying bright sunshine! Due to heavy downpours overnight, Trenches 17 and 18 were waterlogged, so no work was done in these areas. However, there was plenty to do in Trenches 15 and 16…

The first project was to investigate a number of possible post holes identified the previous week during dry conditions, which now that the ground was damp, was perfect conditions for identification of possible post holes. However, Millie, Sofia and Emma soon determined that these features were not postholes, but whilst cleaning the surface they realise that the features previously identified were a “corner” of a rectilinear deposit of clay with linear “dark earth” suggesting possible beam slot foundations. Work will continue tomorrow to explore these features further to see if they are related to the nearby flue or are part of a separate feature…

Figure 1. Millie and Emma detailed the rectilinear clay deposit
Figure 2. Sofia and Stuart recording newly cleaned surfaces in the north end of Trench 16

Elsewhere in Trench 16, Lindsey continued with her detailed examination of the flue structure, and on the west side of the flue discovered a possible “cut” that appeared to be lined with vertically positioned mortar as seen in Figure 3. Again this feature will require further work to investigate thoroughly, but the archaeology of the flue is complex – and is taking time to carefully unpick and record in detail…

Figure 3. Lindsey evaluating the newly discovered “cut”/mortar on the west side of the flue

Meanwhile in Trench 15, Jill and Paul continued to remove “fills” from the northerly ditch of Ermin Street as seen in Figure 4. At the north end of Trech 15 Chloe, Geoff, Julie, Malcom and Louise continued to excavate and record the slot that was partially excavated the previous week. A number of new contexts were revealed beneath the layer of large sarsens and cobbles which were planned and recorded. This area of Trench 15 continued to reveal a high concentration of iron objects, pottery and animal bone…

Figure 4. A newly revealed “fill” of the Ermin Street ditch
Figure 5. Chloe and Louise recording contexts newly revealed by Malcolm