| AGM 2019 |
The AGM on 3rd April 2019 resolved to retain subscriptions for 2019/20 at £12 for individual membership and £18 for families.
Mike Coles has taken over the role of field officer, but as co-ordinator only: members are encouraged to search out fieldwalking sites. Other officers and committee remain unchanged, Terry Dymott becoming an ordinary committee member. |
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| Work still going on |
| 9/7/2020 |
Although the group has not had any organised excavating or field walking during the coronavirus lockdown, a lot of work has been carried out behind the scenes. The Clopton map shown here is the result of several people's efforts - Paul Blinkhorn who analysed the pottery finds, John Waterhouse who revised our spreadsheets based on the analysis and Bill Franklin who generated the distribution plot.
The plot shows where the medieval finds were concentrated, right by the western boundary of the scheduled area. The Bronze Age, Roman and Saxon finds were all concentrated in the same area. | |  |
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The only exception was during the Iron Age when the concentration appears to be further west, as seen in this map.
There are areas of the lower field that we never completed walking so this will be a target when the dreary lockdown is suspended. We hope everyone is still well and look forward to meeting each other later in the year. | |  |
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| A find from the past |
| 6/4/2020 |
As Coronavirus has stopped all our planned activities, it gives us time to start sorting through the many items (especially in my garage) that we had always planned to document.
The photograph shows one of the stranger items we have recovered. Those who attended the Johnston's Pond excavations at Wimpole may remember the trove of strange finds that had been buried in the brick tank. The remains of an alarm clock do not often figure in excavation reports but here is the one we found. Sadly corroded to almost extinction we don't know the manufacturer, or its date, but we believe it to be of WW2, or just after, vintage.
We hope all our members and followers are surviving this difficult time but hope that the end to this pandemic is getting closer day by day. Keep well and go careful. | |  |
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| ***END OF THE SPRING SEASON*** |
| 23/3/2020 |
| Our Spring season has been brought to an end prematurely by the coronavirus outbreak and the ban on group socialising. When the group will start activities again is unknown at present, keep in touch with the website and we will try to keep you updated. Hope all remain in good health during this difficult time. |
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| Last day at Footpath Field |
| 22/3/2020 |
Another lovely day, but with a cool wind. Finished off the Footpath Field which turned up the typical range of finds, as shown in the photograph. Some nice flints, an oyster shell (one of many), a clay pipe stem (one of a few), some very medieval-looking rims and a range of post-medieval wares. The tiles and brick kept coming as well. The glazed slipware piece (top left) is unusual, more effort needed to identify its manufacturer.
Many thanks to Lewis Duke, the farmer, for his permission to walk these fields and his enthusiasm about our efforts. | |  |
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| The Footpath Field is still producing finds |
| 15/3/2020 |
| Well, another tough weekend with a strong, blustery wind making even walking a tiring activity. However, as the photograph shows, Footpath Field is still producing a wide range of finds. We have yet more flints, including a nice little blade, lots more rims of varying periods and the post medieval salt glazed wall sherd. The quantities of tile and some brick also continue. This field has lots fewer flints overall than Mash Field and fewer worked flints. | |  |
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However, just to illustrate the wide date range of finds from this field, the photograph here shows a possible prehistoric hand axe alongside a nice blue Victorian teapot handle in the shape of a lion's head.
The flint is very worn and will need an expert to state it is positively an axe.
We have probably one more day of field walking on this field before we are likely to stop for the spring season. The coronavirus event has, and will continue, to impact some of our activities. However spread 10m apart on a windy field is not likely to be a high risk activity, although handling equipment needs care. | |  |
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| On to the Footpath Field at Ickleton |
| 8/3/2020 |
For the last two Sundays we have been walking the Footpath Field, north of our first field. This Sunday was blessed by sunny weather, a moderate wind and excellent ground conditions. being dry with little crop growth.
There are fewer worked flints on this field (but lots of flint in total) and they are mostly primary flakes, so no blades like Mash Field. The pottery is also quite mixed as the photograph shows - more recent stuff like Staffordshire ware, blue and white transfer ware plus the ubiquitous glazed redwares. However, there are two rims and part of a ridged handle that look very medieval, especially with their worn appearance. Later analysis will prove whether they are. | |  |
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| A very windy day at Mash Field |
| 23/2/2020 |
Well, that was a tough day - very strong, blustery wind combined with a downpour that got everyone wet. We carried on walking through masses of broken flint and bits of tile (mostly) and brick. However, there were no exciting flint finds this time but the star piece is shown in the photograph. It was a medieval floor tile with a glazed surface that had traces of a lighter slip still left in places. A layer of mortar still covered all of the base. This is definitely a candidate for a floor tile from the missing Abbey buildings.
After missing the previous weekend due to the inclement weather conditions, let's hope for better conditions this coming weekend when we move on to a new field at Ickleton. | |  |
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| Weather forecast cancels our field walking |
| 8/2/2020 |
Storm Ciara has caused us to cancel our planned field walking at Abbey Farm, Ickleton as the wind conditions will make walking difficult.
So here are some views of the puddingstone quern we found last weekend. The stone is the lower half of a small hand operated quern and made of Hertfordshire Pudding Stone. Visible by the right hand end of the scale is the drilled spindle hole that centred and located the upper stone. | |  |
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The second photograph shows the side profile which identifies it as a bun-shaped quern of East Anglian form (as defined by Curwen in 1941). It is likely to be of late Iron Age or early Roman date. This is interesting in view of the lack of Iron Age or Roman pottery recovered so far during our field walking.
For more information on querns go to the Reports page where there is an article about querns and quern stones. | |  |
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| First field walking in Ickleton |
| 26/1/2020 |
Our first field walking at Ickleton was quite a change to recent work. The field was littered with flint and post medieval tile and brick which made finding worked or burnt flints quite difficult. The ground conditions were fine and the sunny weather appreciated by all. The photograph shows some of the flints we did find - including 3 nice blades, 2 burnt flints and something that looks remarkably like a flint used with a flint lock gun.
On the pottery side, there was a quantity of glazed redware finds dating to the 18th/19th C to go with the masses of mostly tile. Some of the redware had slipware decoration which could date to the 17th C. | |  |
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| 40th Anniversary and Val Whittaker Prize Presentation |
On 6th November 2019 we held a social event at the McDonald Institute to celebrate the Group's 40th anniversary and presented Leigha Crothall,a Cambridge University undergraduate, with the Val Whittaker Memorial Prize for 2019. Leigha's winning paper was on glass trade beads. To read Leigha's paper click here. Photo - Leigha being presented with the award by the chairman.
To read Barrie Fuller, our chairman's words and thanks to those who have supported the Group, made at the event, click here.
Sadly we have to report the death of our treasurer, Dudley Pusey, the following day. Dudley was a long-term member of the Group and will be greatly missed.
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