On the weekend of June 28/29, Channel 4
Television is planning to mount the biggest single archaeological event ever undertaken in
the UK. All over the nation, in their own back gardens, on private land and in public
spaces, members of the public will be offered the chance to dig an archaeological test pit
and discover what lies beneath the surface.
Throughout the Big Dig weekend, and during the week before, a series of 'live' TV
programmes will be presented by members of Channel 4's TimeTeam from some of the gardens,
parks and playing fields as they are excavated.
The aim of the project is three-fold. Firstly, to add to the overall knowledge of our
archaeological resource. Second, to introduce people to how practical archaeology is
conducted correctly and third, to highlight the importance of getting involved in your
local archaeological community.
All the work pre-, during and post-excavation will adhere to exacting archaeological
standards, and will focus on educating and promoting heritage awareness. Registered
applicants will be given detailed information packs developed by experienced
archaeologists containing guidance notes on how to select a site, research it, dig it,
record their excavation, write it up and take care of any finds in a responsible manner.
Our society intend using this opportunity to investigate a suspected section of Roman Road
at Ince Park near Amberswood Common. Tom has already contacted the Parks & Gardens
Dept who are keen for us to proceed. Final permission however rests with Wigan Council,
but Tom has put together a very good proposal and is confident we will get the go ahead.
This dig will be conducted as a society project but any individual can conduct his or her
own dig by registering with TimeTeam by post or on-line. Smith’s Farm Survey
Last month, society members made a hurriedly arranged field trip to Smith’s Farm
on the outskirts of Atherton. The site lies to the east of Small Brook where we have
already investigated the line of the Roman Road. Taking advantage of the good weather, we
covered a 25 x 52 metre area with the resistivity meter, to see if we could detect the
line of the Road as it approaches Lover’s Lane. The result show a distinctive ridge
running east to west with parallel darker bands running along side. Unfortunately these
lines do not necessarily head in the direction we are predicting for the line of the Road
and the suspicion is that what we are seeing is possibly the underlying geology. It could
be that the scan is just not wide enough to give a complete picture or perhaps we have
missed the line altogether (it could run a little further north at this point). Another
visit is planned for the near future.
Hatton Fold Excavation
In the afternoon we also took the opportunity to view the sites at Hatton Fold and
Gadbury Fold. It is in the fields between these two farms where we suspect the line of the
Roman Road to run. The area is soon to be redeveloped and contractors have been digging
test pits in a number of places. We have examining the spoil from the pits and it show
that the fields have been greatly disturbed in the past and possibly have a fair depth of
overlying pit waste. We also examined the brook where Mark Haywood detected a possibly
section of Roman Road in the bank. The section is on the west side of the stream, which is
where the footpath has been recently rerouted. We cannot excavate at this point because of
the path but just inside the field beyond the fence, the ground is still reasonably flat
for a metre or so, before it rises due to the additional spoil. Permission has been
granted from the owner (who is soon to be moving out) for a small trench to be dug here.
In fact today (Sunday), in order to beat the developers, Mark Haywood, Joe Russell and
others have already begun preparation work and a full-scale excavation is planned for this
coming Sunday. If you are interested in taking part, please let me know at the meeting.
Next Meeting
Wednesday 2nd April at the BP Centre (Scout HQ) in Greenough Street, at 7.30 pm as
usual. This month’s speaker is Steve Hewitt from the Wigan &
Leigh Technical College. He runs the GCSE course in Archaeology at the College and is also
in charge of the Geology Department. His talk is on Prehistoric Megalithic
Monuments.
Please note we are forced to move the night of our meeting in June to the following
Wednesday (11th June). This is due to the Scouts Group holding their AGM on our regular
night (and they have priority). I hope this will not cause too much inconvenience.
Hope to see you at the meeting. B.A.
|
