2023 Potter Hill Dig Diary
Day 1, Wednesday 7th June
- At 8am today the team for Day 1 assembled on site. Rob Evershed from Allen Archaeology was in charge of the site. Phil our digger driver from Gusto Homes cracked on with digging four trenches based on the archaeology previously identified in a 2019 survey
- Meanwhile in the background four volunteers sorted out the security fencing for the site toilet and once the hired toilet arrived we were able to put it in position on site.
Within the four trenches the finds emerging with the initial scraping back by the digger bucket have revealed plenty of Roman pottery and masonry. In particular some Samian ware and some box flue tile. Possibly the remains of some amphora.
Tomorrow the volunteers come on site. Some work to do “cleaning” the site, so draw hoes as much as trowels are necessary, but this is promising to be a very exciting Roman site, so far!!
Day 2, Thursday 8th June
Today was the first day on site for volunteers. After an induction the focus of today’s work was on the western side of trench 3. Volunteers were initially using hoes over the surface to reveal archaeological features. Then cleaning back the sides of the trench. In doing so this revealed a lot of Roman pottery and some ceramic building material. All useful in order to help date the site.
Tomorrow promises to be just as rewarding
Day 3, Friday 9th June
Today was the 2nd day volunteers were on site, some new faces too for the first time. It was also the best day for the weather so far. The main focus today was continuing to work on trench two and the many archaeological features it contains. Some being ditches which cut into one another. These different features span across the width of the 5m trench, with volunteers working on both sides of the trench. Some areas of trench two have proved productive, with pottery finds. Sometimes though in an adjacent feature, perhaps a former infilled ditch. there is little or no from pottery.
One of our volunteers, seemed to have all the luck today with a lot of pottery finds. One of her finds was this unusual handle. Thought to be a lug handle from late Iron Age or Roman jar.
Elsewhere on site another volunteer was working through the spoil heap for trench 4. Remarkably after some hours of diligent work he produced a whole tray of pottery finds.
A little later on in the day it was decided to deploy a couple of volunteers to trench 1. What is very clear though is a lot of archaeology is present within the site and our group is going to struggle to complete all of the work required in 4 trenches. We have another 6 days with volunteers on site, so fingers crossed in the time left we can reveal more about this fantastic Roman site
Overall the day was very productive and enjoyable. We even got a flypast by the Red Arrows from RAF Waddington at one point. Monday promises to be just as good a today. Certainly the weather will be hot!
Day 4, Monday 12th June
Well today has been incredibly hot! 28C and our loaned gazebo came in very handy giving us shade from the unrelenting sun. Those labouring in the sun did extremely well in the difficult conditions.
Work has continued in trench two. Various sections are now at the recording stage there. Trench one had more people in today but continues to offer little in the way of finds. Yet is only a few metres away from trench two. It seems to be mostly ditches which seem to line up with the ditches in trench two.
In the north end of trench two one of our volunteers, Carol has been having a remarkable excavation. Every day she has been coming across finds which we have to stop, come over and look at in amazement. Early today she found an almost complete Roman vessel. This section of trench has produced two very full tray of pottery finds, so far! Carol is still working to extend further the section here, as there is more pottery to be found. An intriguing lump of rock has yet to be removed.
Some animal bone too has been found by Carol including some jaw bone with teeth
The sheer quantity of pot from this one section has been impressive too. Filling two complete finds trays.
One of the other star finds today has been out of trench two. A very small copper round object with a hole in it. It’s extremely fragile and presently we are none the wiser as to what it is.
It looks like we are in for another very hot day tomorrow. Hopefully more interesting finds too!
Day 5, Tuesday 13th June
Another hot day today, but also quite windy. The wind got stronger as the afternoon went on, so we then had to worry about our gazebo blowing away. We have continued working on trenches one and two. Certain sections within the trenches continue to expand. We are also recording features already found in trench two.
A couple of stories seem to be unfolding in trench two. Phil who has been working on his section in trench two for a few days now trying to reveal a large ditch. As a consequence the first sherd of Samian ware, found in context was made. Samian ware is high status Roman pottery made in France. Very expensive, a kind of “best china”. So far our other Samian ware finds where made when the digger was scrapping back layer by layer last Wednesday.
So it was a good find and hopefully post excavation can be cleaned and dated to help give an age on this ditch.
Further along in trench two Jim has been working on trying to excavate a floor surface, or floor surfaces which are in layers.
It seems the surface is made of highly compacted material, gravel or even pottery. A floor surface clearly implies some sort of building. What this structure was for we are not able to answer at this point. But work will continue tomorrow.
A close up of the compacted floor surface in section, before being cleaned up
Further north in trench two Carol is finally at the recording stage of her feature, which seems to be a ditch with turns through 90 degrees. It was the area that many of our pottery finds were made on site.
Back in trench one work continues to excavate a number of ditches. Trench one continues to produce no meaningful finds so far, which is a shame.
The good news for tomorrow is that Bob comes back on site and will be starting work on trench three. A trench that we have not started on yet. Fingers crossed for some interesting finds to make up for the disappointment in trench 1
Day 6, Wednesday 14th June
Another glorious day on top of Potter Hill at Brills Farm.
The weather was again wonderful, with temperatures a little bit more comfortable. We have all got into a routine everyday. Arriving early in order to get the Allen Archaeology van unloaded, putting up the gazebo and setting out the tables and chairs beneath it. Unlocking the site toilet and getting the tools and equipment we need for the day.
Today we welcomed on site Jane. Jane worked with us last year on the roundhouse site off Folly Lane and this year wanted a non digging job. As we have plenty of pot finds to wash now, the sun was shining to dry them, the bowls and toothbrushes came out and Jane set to. The key things with pot washing is take the water to the pot, not the pot to the water. Also to wash one tray of finds at a time to avoid mix ups. Keep everything labelled with where the finds were found.
Jane did indeed crack on with the job, one finds bag and one tray at a time and soon trays were out on the grass drying.
We were also lucky enough to enjoy Jane’s cake baking contribution to the dig. A wonderful carrot cake. Jane jokingly commented that her edible archaeology was themed on a spoil heap on the site. It was nearly all gone by our break time and was thoroughly appreciated by all.
The other news today is Julian and Richard who have been in trench one today went on to open up trench four.
Trench four is the great mystery. It seems to have a possible quarry pit at it’s centre which oddly contained a piece of Roman box flue tile.’
Trench four also produced a tile with an intriguing foot print imprinted upon it at the time it was created. A Roman dog walked across it presumably?
In trench three Bob started work creating a section running north south. Within a few minutes he came across Roman grey ware and best of all, high status Samian ware.
Meanwhile over in trench two Christine has been working to excavate a possible second surface made of compacted stone. The difficulty we have is it’s possible it could also be a natural feature too, so some care is required before a final interpretation is made.
We are clearly making progress across the whole site now. Slowly but surely some of the missing and broken pieces of this jigsaw are coming together.
Day 7, Thursday 15th June
After hot dry day at Brills Farm. We were joined by Karen, a very experienced pot washer. Karen helped us last year with pot washing too. The task today was to try and get through the bulk of all of Carole’s pottery finds out of trench 2. Karen had by the end of the day got through all the pottery that needed washing. As you can see the full glory of these finds are now evident.
Meanwhile over in trench 4 the team of Richard and Julian is reinforced by another Richard. So the trio have been hard at work in the heat.
Trench four is where we found the Roman box flue tile. As the morning progressed more Roman ceramic building material (CBM) begins to emerge. The interesting thing about this trench is the lack of pottery coming out of it. The prospect as we enter the last couple of days is whether these CBM finds continue. This particular find did leave us scratching our heads initially. Presumably a roof tile. (tegula)
Melvyn Prior from BBC Radio Lincolnshire joined us later in the morning for a tour and to find out more about our excavation. Melvyn was impressed by the quantity and quality of the Roman pottery we had found and recorded interviews as he went around the site to be broadcast later today. We are grateful to Melvyn for helping to promote our open day for the site on Saturday.
Over in trench 3 Bob has been making progress. Initially his thought was the area here was a series of pits, but now his thinking is this is a larger single pit. Pottery finds continue which will help date the feature here.
The other event today, off site, is we also featured in the Newark Advertiser who sent a photographer on Monday to visit our site. The subsequent article today also mentioned our open day on Saturday. So it’s not been a bad day. If you want to read about us in the Newark Advertiser click here.
Only two days left until the end of this year’s excavation. Fingers crossed more comes from trenches three and four
Day 8, Friday 16th June
Well haven’t we been lucky during this excavation. It’s been dry and hot throughout. Today was no exception. What is curious now is that as a volunteer, if you attend regularly you forget what day of the week it is. Yes, it’s Friday, crumbs! Only one more working day for volunteers after today until we conclude so the main focus now is to record as much as possible and get as many finds as we can before the digger comes back on Tuesday and fills the trenches back in. Trenches 3 and 4 very much fulfil the criteria of gathering as much as we can before close of play. So in trench 3 Bob was being supported by Andy and Colin working with him.
Meanwhile over in trench 1 Phil must be recording the largest section in any trench. It seems this part of Norton Disney seems absolutely “chock a block” with ancient ditches. Hence the reason we are here trying to find all the old rubbish that people were throwing away in Roman times. The down side is the effort it takes to record the ditches we find that rubbish in.
Over in trench 4 Richard and Julian was joined by new volunteer Thom. He spent a bit of time cleaning up the side of the trench and then some recording.
The team in this trench have amassed a good collection of Roman ceramic building material and today added to this with pottery finds too
Tomorrow, Saturday it’s our open day for the site. a chance for the local community to see for themselves some of the finds and the wider site. Sunday its the archaeology walk from Hill Holt Wood. Yes it’s going to be a busy weekend too so no time for a rest for many of us before the final working day on site.
Day 9, Site Open Day Saturday 17th June
Today was our site open day. A chance for the local community to come and see in person the archaeology we have uncovered over the last two weeks.
The site opened at 10am and even before we were officially open we were receiving visitors. We put up our gazebo, and set out on tables the finds we had made. We also talked about our finds to the many visitors over the next few hours. It certainly got busy at times.
Rob Evershed from Allen Archaeology also led tours around the site whilst our other volunteers and other volunteers pointed out other relevant things to see from the site within the wider landscape on top of Potter Hill.
It was really good to see so many make the time to come and see us. We had over 70 visitors on site. In fact more than last year and raised nearly £70 in donations towards the Norton Disney group’s costs for this year’s excavation. Thank you to every one who dropped by and we hope to see you next year too.
Day 10, Hill Holt Wood 's Archaeology Walk
Hill Holt Wood organise North Kesteven District Council’s annual NK Walking Festival. As part of their programme of events there is an archaeology themed walk which takes in the Iron Age and Roman archaeology of Norton Disney. By luck the timing of the event coincided with the excavation dates. This has meant it was possible to include as part of the tour a chance to see the excavation site. Richard Parker, Secretary to the Norton Disney Group led the walk and explained the sites of both Iron Age and Roman archaeology that the walk went past before it got to the Brills Farm excavation site. In all the walk was about 3.2 km. The weather was extremely warm too but everyone managed well in the heat.
It certainly has been a busy weekend for archaeology. 35 people came on the walk which means 100 people have been to see the site this week. The numbers on our Facebook and Twitter account of followers also give healthy numbers for the whole two weeks. Tomorrow is the last day volunteers will be on site. This means its going to be a very intense and busy day finishing off many tasks. Fingers crossed the weather holds as there are thunderstorms forecast over the next few hours. We don’t want boggy trenches in the morning.
Day 11, Monday 19th June
Final day for volunteers
As you can imagine the final day is a busy one. Much of the day was focused on getting as much recorded as possible. The weather luckily held too for another glorious day. There was also a rush on to see what extra could be excavated from trenches 3 and 4 in particular, which had been opened later in the excavation. Bob and Phil in trench 3, Julian and Thom in trench 4 laboured to fill the trays before the close of the day.
Mean while in trenches 1 and 2 the final effort of recording features was in full swing. In the latter half of the day the trays of finds which had been trying in the sun needed bagging, with the correct information recorded as to where they had come from. This would enable correct evaluation of the finds, post excavation. So by the time we finished a lot had been done, particularly recording.
Had we completely excavated everything we could by the end of the day? No.
Does this mean there is more archaeology to find on this part of the site? Yes particularly in trenches 3 and 4.
Any excavation has it’s limits. In our case it is a fixed term due to financial constraints. So the hope is to return again if we can get permission and raise the necessary funds. We are only starting to get an understanding about this Roman site, which clearly has Iron Age origins too. So fingers crossed we can be back in 2024 and find out more.
All the volunteers left with fond memories of the this “dig”. The site is so atmospheric. In a June sunset light, quite evocative as the light fades on the four trenches for the final time.
Day 12, Tuesday 20th June The trenches get back filled.
Once our volunteers leave the site it has to be returned to good order. Our group has lucky enough to have been supported throughout by MCB plant hire from Langford who have loaned us a digger for the final day for job. We are also fortunate to be supported by Gusto Homes from Collingham who sent their driver Phil along to drive the digger. Phil knew the site as he worked with us on the first day so was interested in what was found.
The arrival of the digger is always a dramatic event. it comes on the back of a low loader and has to be driven off. Then driven on site. Once Phil was in the cab work started to back fill the trenches. His job was not helped by the arrival of torrential rain for a good proportion of the morning. Luckily as morning became afternoon the rain finally went. Eventually all four trenches were filled again with the spoil we took out on the first day. Only the bare earth on the surface marked where we had been working.
Once the digger had left the site in the afternoon, the summer 2023 excavation was finally over.
Now the post excavation now begins. 23kg of finds to record before the evaluation of those finds can commence. In due course a very comprehensive report will be written detailing those finds with conclusions about the archaeology found and how it fits with the wider Iron Age and Roman site.
It would be fair to say this excavation has been a success for our group, our biggest and most successful to date.
Thanks
Our thanks to:
Charlie and Sophie White for allowing us to excavate four trenches in the paddocks.
MCB Plant Hire for the loan of a digger and for bringing it on site
Gusto Homes for providing our driver Phil
Allen Archaeology who were our partners in this project