Andrew Hutt will present the contents of the latest journal
2:30 to 4:30pm. Please do not arrive before 2:15pm
This meeting will also be available on zoom. To register to attend please email Andrew on andrew.hutt(at)berksarch.co.uk*
Committee Room, Woosehill Community Centre, Emmview Cl, Wokingham RG41 3DA. There is ample parking alongside the Community Centre and in the adjacent Morrisons supermarket car park.
*For security we are not publishing email addresses as direct links. Please re-type substituting the @ symbol for (at)
Due to the heavy overnight rain, further excavation of Trench 2B had to be abandoned due to the surface being waterlogged, however work was able to continue in Trench 2A by Lindsey, Terry, Barbara and Adam. At last the surfaces covered by the seemingly never-ending deposits of pebble/flint revealed a new deposit of large irregular flints and finds of a number of large nails, hob-nails, pottery sherds and a copper-alloy pin. This new surface will be fully exposed, cleaned and recorded tomorrow.
Figure 1. Lindsey, Barbara, Terry and Adam at work in Trench 2A, the new surface revealed and finds discovered.
In Trench 1A Jill and Paula continued work exploring the surface of the lane, the ditch and a possible gully.
Figure 2. Jill and Paula hard at work in Trench 1A.
In Trench 1B the overnight rain made the ground in the main trench too soft for exploring the pits revealed the previous day, so work commenced to extend the trench to the north by 2m to locate a second ditch (perpendicular to the one in Trench 1A) suggested by geophysics surveys. Further evidence of metal working was discovered within the flint/pebble deposits below the topsoil with iron slag/bloom, and a large piece of lead being revealed as small find.
Figure 3. The extension to Trench 1B being recorded by Stuart, James, John and Tim H.
In Trench 1A Jill, Ellena and Peter continued to explore the ditch along side the lane adjoining Ermin Street with a section revealing the stratigraphy of the lane. This was drawn in section and plan, samples taken for further post-excavation analysis and context sheets drafted. Ellena was very pleased with her discovery of a worked flint arrowhead within her first hour of being an archaeologist – a great start!
Figure 1. Flint arrowhead discovered by Ellena and the section across the lane in Trench 1A.
In Trench 1B Stuart, Dee and Geoff cleaned the surface they had been working to reveal of the past couple of days which highlighted at least one likely pit that will be explored further in 50% sections. Again, the planning and recording of these sections took much of the afternoon.
Figure 2. The cleaned surface of Trench 1B highlighting the pits in the centre and the top left of the photograph.
In Trenches 2A and 2B work continued to clean the surfaces excavated to date, and then to plan, photograph and record new contexts. In the afternoon work continued to excavate these new contexts.
Figure 3. Chris and Geoff take the levels of Trench 2A whilst Martin and Julian record Trench 2B.
Attendees: Karen, Sarah, Geoff, Nick, Nigel and Keith
Work to remove the topsoil in Trench 2A was continued by Sarah, Karen and Nigel as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The high-resolution earth resistance survey predicted linear N-S aligned features, which are starting to appear as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1. Karen, Nigel and Sarah removing the topsoil from Trench 2A.
Figure 2. Linear N-S aligned features within Trench 2A.
Trench 1A was cleaned and planning begun with an addition of five contexts being identified as shown in Figure 3 and were planned as shown in Figure 4. More work will be required next week to complete the recording of these features before work can begin to excavate the ditch in section. The context thought to represent the upper fill of the ditch contained a number of pieces of slag and bloom suggesting iron production taking place nearby.
Figure 3. Trench 1A revealing a number of contexts to be investigated further.
Figure 4. Planning of Trench 1A whilst Geoff and Nick excavate Trench 1B.
In Trench 1B Nick and Geoff revealed the same surface as in Trench 1A and discovered a number of pieces of Roman period pottery as shown in Figure 5. This surface of Trench 1B will need to be cleaned and planned next week so that context can be identified and recorded.
Figure 5. Pottery sherds discovered in Trench 1B in Day #8 by Nick and Geoff.
Attendees: Andrew H. Andrew R, Tim H, Tim L, Jean, Geoff and Keith
The high-resolution earth resistance survey from Day #6 when processed revealed a number of anomalies to the south of the site aligned N-S rather than aligned NW-SE to the Roman Road which was an unexpected result as shown in Figure 1. Give that these features are across the Roman road it is likely that they represent a post-Roman phase of occupation and may have utilised the metalled road surface as a foundation for buildings.
Figure 1. High-resolution earth resistance image from Day #6.
To begin to investigate these new features as well as the Roman road and possible Roman period occupation on the NE side of the Roman road an 8n x 1m trench (2A) was opened across these features as shown in Figure 2. The turves were removed by hand and work began by Andrew H, Tim H and Nigel B to excavate the topsoil and determine the level of the first archaeological context. Sondages were opened across trench 2A to determine the depth of the upper archaeological deposits.
Figure 2. Location of Trench 2A.
Figure 3. Nigel, Andrew H and Tim H remove topsoil from Trench 2A.
In Trench 1A work continued with Jean, Andrew R and Tim L to remove the pebble/flint deposit to reveal the NW side of the ditch revealed on day #5. This took most of the day, but by late afternoon this was achieved. After a quick clean the ground was sprayed with water and covered to allow final cleaning to take place the following day.
Figure 3. Andrew R and Tim L reveal the NW side of the ditch in Trench 1A.
This project aims to inform the residents of Wickham of the archaeology and history of the place where they live through direct participation in archaeological fieldwork and post-excavation analysis, and participation in site tours and lectures. This project also aims to provide BAS volunteers with hands on experience and training to develop the archaeological capacity within BAS Society to engage with communities across the wider Berkshire area.
