| 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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| After the collecting comes the analysing |
| 22/11/2020 |
| After collecting over 400 bags of finds at Clopton this autumn now comes the washing, logging on spreadsheets and analysing what we have recovered. Some members have been looking at the large number of handles we have recovered from the previous field north of the trackway (our label CLP001). There is a large selection, including rod and strapped handles, stabbed hole and slashed decoration, made in shell and flint tempered wares, sandy wares, late medieval reduced ware and glazed red ware. Some also have early medieval glazes but the photograph shows a selection of these types (thanks to Susanne and Stephen for their work). As we are processing CLP002 we have a lot more handles to sort through in the coming weeks.. | |  |
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| Last visits to Clopton |
| 12/11/2020 |
Two visits, each by a pair of walkers, has seen the finds on the Clopton field reduce to practically zero. Seventeen bags contained yet more tile but also a series of finds which sort of define the site. The photograph shows another piece of Roman mortaria, a slash decorated jug handle of medieval date, some stoneware and a clay pipe stem and part bowl. Also a glass base, pehaps of a sundae dish, and an unidentified brass fixing. This sums up the date coverage we see in the majority of finds.
This is probably the last field walking for a while as we can only cover a very small area with a maximum of 2 walkers. Let's hope December becomes free again and the various crops have not grown too much in the interim. | |  |
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| The lava quern just keeps coming |
| 8/11/2020 |
Yet more lava quern stone has come from the Clopton site, this time an identifiable top stone. As the photograph shows we have the grinding surface with the grooves clearly visible. But what we have not seen before is the round hole in the top surface where the turning handle would have fitted. The stone is 2" thick (5.2cm) while the handle hole is some 4cm in diameter. The diameter of the complete stone is greater than 40cm.
Although the recent posts have mostly been about quern stones of one sort or another, it is hoped some interesting pottery finds will emerge as their processing proceeds. | |  |
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| COVID 19 SITUATION |
| 5/11/2020 |
| The imposition of another lockdown has, unfortunately, impacted our future field walking activities. This, combined with the very early planting season on some of our target fields, means we will have to reassess the situation after the Dec 2nd review. Till then, keep safe and well. Hopefully we can restart some activity after the review. |
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| New lockdown curtails our Clopton experience |
| 1/11/2020 |
What turned out to be our last field walk for a while was a damp and muddy experience but the finds keep coming. Although we marvel at all the medieval finds we must not forget the other periods are also represented here. The photograph shows just a few Roman pieces from our recent walking. Nene Valley colour coated ware, here as a cup base, continue to appear but not in large quantities. The mortaria, which may be Oxford ware, are found in a few cases. However, we must remember that some of the very large quantities of shell tempered ware are almost certainly Romano-British in origin.
What we have not found is the limit of the pottery scatter, although the number of finds is definitely dropping. The number of lava quern fragments is truly amazing, we have not been on a site where so much has been found | |  |
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| More interesting finds from Clopton |
| 25/10/2020 |
| Despite a less than encouraging weather forecast we had another prolific day at Clopton as regards finds. Another bumper haul of finds included yet more lava quernstone. We have found lots of lava quernstone fragments that are hard to identify as lower or upper stones because they lack any identifiable characteristics. Today, as the composite photograph shows, we recovered a piece that is almost certainly a top stone based on its shape. | |  |
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Compare the shape and the profile of our piece with the illustration of a known Roman lava quernstone. The similarity of our piece with the top stone shown in the drawing is very clear, with the raised lip evident in the drawing visible in our piece. The interesting thing is the sheer quantity of lava stone we keep recovering from this area near the Clopton village whereas the John Alexander record of his excavations does not mention lava quernstone at all.
As we move westwards from the scheduled area there is no sign, as yet, of any drop-off in the quantity of finds. Although ploughing over many years will have moved material around it cannot explain the wide spread of finds which suggests the settlement area was considerably bigger than the current scheduled area. | |  |
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| Another exceptional day at Clopton |
| 18/10/2020 |
On an overcast day finds were somewhat difficult to spot, especially the black/dark brown pottery ones. It did not stop a sharp eyed lady walker from spotting this puddingstone hand quern top stone, shown in the photograph. Although very knocked about, it has the central feed hole just visible and has a diameter of 24 - 26cm. We have found very little puddingstone material here but large quantities of lava quern stones turn up all the time.
This puddingstone is a little unusual when compared with other puddingstones we have found in the area. The common ones have a yellow/orange/red colouration whereas this one is more dark grey/black in shades. The yellow/orange/red ones are believed to come from Hertfordshire, hence the name usually associated with them, but there are other sources around the country that produce these dark shades. Some research required here. | |  |
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| More about Harlow Slipware |
| 15/10/2020 |
After the Ickleton excavation we showed some pictures of the pottery found, including one of some pieces of Harlow Slipware. While further researching these wares (also known as Metropolitan Ware because it is so common in London) we came across a picture on the Museum of London website of a plate containing all the features of the pottery we had recovered.
The photograph shown here (courtesy of the Thomas Layton Trust and the Museum of London) has all the decorative elements on the pieces of pottery from Ickleton. It shows the piece was a shallow dish/plate some 36.5cm wide and 4.6cm deep and was dated to 1630 - 1700AD. | |  |
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| Back to the prolific fields at Clopton |
| 11/10/2020 |
After the barren fields at Childerley we returned to Clopton to complete an area not covered when we were there a year ago. The ground conditions were a bit sticky after overnight rain but we escaped any more rain until it arrived just after we had finished.
The field area we were on produced masses of pottery again and there is no real sign of the quantity dropping off as we move further west. The photograph shows just a few items, including amongst others a Nene Valley cup base, a globular jar neck, a stabbed decoration handle and some Stamford ware. A large quantity of shell and quartz tempered wares were recovered. We will continue further westwards next weekend to see where the pottery finds diminish to background levels. | |  |
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| The Ickleton dig shortened due to the weather |
| 9/10/2020 |
Our excavation at Ickleton was sadly truncated due to lost days because of the poor weather but we did achieve some of our objectives. The surface was levelled and a better view of the levels below the top flint layers was seen.
The finds that emerged were very similar to those of last year. This included large numbers of nails, a selection of which are shown in the photograph. We had a total of 120 nails, weighing nearly 620 grams, together with various bits of wire (24 pieces) and 13 pieces of flat metalwork. These all came from the high end left from last year at the eastern end of the trench. There were also 35 pieces of clay pipe totalling 86 grams, but sadly no bowls or marked stems to identify them.
The trench is now being protected and we hope to return early next year to carry on down into the floor levels we think we have uncovered this year. Our thanks go to Lewis Duke for his permission to carry out this work. | |  |
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| Back doing what we like best at Ickleton |
| 28/09/2020 |
| After a little bit of field walking the previous weekend it was down to work at Ickleton on the site we excavated at last year. The covered site had survived the year in good shape and we firstly started to clear the trench and tidy the edges. The plan was to bring the surface to the same level and while doing so we found quite a few pieces of 17th C Harlow slipware, as seen in the photograph. This matches pottery we found previously. The flint level keeps on going, along with a lot of mostly 18th C tiles. | |  |
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The other major finds were the 17/18th C Staffordshire combed ware, also similar to finds from the previous excavation. In addition the rusty nails just kept coming along with copious quantities of tile. But there were some metal finds, especially a number of what look like sewing pins in a copper alloy. By day two we had more or less achieved our objective of levelling the bottom of the trench, where a thin layer of pea gravel provided us with a useful horizon.
The weather forecasts are not good but we hope to carry on below the next layer of flints into what we hope will be the medieval layers. | |  |
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| Back in action |
| 20/09/2020 |
After 6 months out of action due to COVID 19 you may just recognise this picture - it's called a field - and the group ventured out to this field at Childerley this weekend to do some field walking. It was great to be out in the open air again, with lovely weather and good company (2 metre distancing being observed at all times, of course). It was one of the last fields on the Childerley Estate we have not walked before, so a celebration of the end of many years of walking.
The only problem was a lack of any exciting finds to add to the pleasure. When three pieces of clay pipe stem are the highlight you know there is not a lot to say about this particular field. Still it was a start.
We have other field walking opportunities being lined up but the rumours about another lockdown mean we may not be out again for a while. Keep looking at this website for updates. | |  |
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| More on millstones |
| 19/8/2020 |
A request for more information about quernstones, as a result of someone reading our article, led to more research on the use of millstones. We often think of them as only milling grain but in fact more applications were used for millstone grit ones, especially after French burrstones took over bread milling.
The photo shows one other use, that is milling (or pulping) apples for cider making (from Jersey). This shows a millstone being used on its edge, unlike the flat horizontal stones used for milling grain.
Other uses included pulping wood chippings for paper manufacture, with Canada and Scandinavia being big markets for millstone grit stones. In fact the last of these was shipped to Norway in the 1960's. Malt was also milled for beer manufacture and bark for tanning. Ores and pigments are also mentioned as being crushed using millstones. Of local interest is the fact that Kings Lynn was a major export port for millstone grit mill stones. | |  |
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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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| 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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| After the collecting comes the analysing |
| 22/11/2020 |
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