| Weather defeats us but here is something from sunnier times |
| 14/2/2019 |
The weather has been frustrating, the day before and the day after have been quite fine but the Sunday has been awful - either raining or soggy underfoot. But here is something from sunnier days.
We often find odd bits of quern stone when we go field walking but nothing quite like the photograph. In the valley of Burbage Brook, near Hathersage in the Peak District, there are these abandoned millstone grit querns lying by the track. They have been formed, the centre hole drilled yet they were abandoned - why? Did someone cancel the order or were these stock that never sold when millers started using other material. Anyway, there are reputed to be nearly 100 stones in various states of manufacture just lying around - a very impressive sight. | |  |
|
 |
| Beaten by the Weather Again |
| 3 and 10/2/2019 |
| The weather and ground conditions stopped fieldwalking for two more weeks. We hope for better next Sunday. |
|
| Weather and terrain win again |
| 27/1/2019 |
Field walking was abandoned on Sunday due to standing water on the field and with the very strong wind blowing the growing crop flat. This meant that surface visibility was very poor, hence not walking that day. With the crop at the stage it is, we do not want to risk damaging it - better to wait another day.
On better days we have found whetstones on a number of sites, like the broken one in the photograph. They are often made of natural sandstones and similar natural materials. This particular one is made of carborundum - and this helps date it. Synthetic SiC (silicon carbide) powder has been mass-produced since 1893 for use as an abrasive. Grains of silicon carbide can be bonded together by sintering to form a very hard and long lasting whetstone for sharpening hand scythes and similar tools. They gradually replaced natural stones from about 1900. | |  |
|
|
| Thin pickings at Childerley |
| 20/1/2019 |
It was a lovely sunny day with a little ground frost but good ground visibility - but few finds, mostly broken 20th C tile. A total of 3 pottery finds was slim reward for our efforts.
However, we do find plenty of fossils on the Childerley fields so we do get to practise our geology skills. The fossil on the left of the photograph is a fossil sponge found on Sunday which looks like a small cannon ball. However, the fossil on the right is also a fossil sponge but the broken edge allows you to see the actual sponge within it. Finds of ammonites, belemnites, gryphaea (oysters) are also quite common, so when the archaeology is not so exciting there is plenty of geology to keep you on your toes. | |  |
|
|
| Back to the flat lands of Childerley |
| 13/1/2019 |
| A total contrast to last week - no hills, no rough ploughed surface. This time a flat surface with a growing crop but good surface visibility. We were finishing off a field we had part walked all the way back in Feb 2015. There were very few pottery finds, mostly post-med but two (see photograph) may be medieval. The rest was a lot of modern broken tile and brick. No settlement here, although in the east corner we had walked in 2015 there were some medieval finds that could be associated with the deserted village of Little Childerley that lies just over the hedge from our field. | |  |
|
|
| Back to the hills of Wimpole |
| 6/1/2019 |
This weekend we returned to field walking at Wimpole for the first time in several years. Plantation field was rough ploughed and hilly (at least by Cambridge standards!!!) so the walking was quite hard - many thanks to those who stayed behind to help pick up the finds.
As the photo shows it was largely a post-med collection - white ware, stone ware, red glazed wares and clay pipes. There were some other pieces that may be medieval or earlier and a possible worked flint. The finds were thinly scattered all over the field, so no settlement here. | |  |
|
| Recognition of our efforts |
| 21/12/2018 |
It is always nice to get some recognition for our efforts in putting Cambridgeshire archaeology on the map. An Historic England research project has produced a report called the National Archaeological Identification Survey: South West Cambridgeshire. Aerial Investigation & Mapping Report by David Knight, Jonathan Last, Sally Evans and Matthew Oakey. We contributed information to this report about the Roman sites at Childerley, Arrington and, too late for the report, Comberton.
It is good to see the group specifically named in the Acknowledgements for having contributed to the information used in the report. In the Autumn 2019 we hope to complete the Comberton work and tackle more of the potential targets on the Historic England interpretation map. | |  |
|
|
| Last weekend walk of 2018 |
| 16/12/2018 |
Another fine day after horrendous winds and some rain saw us finish the year at Histon. In somewhat muddy conditions and with a low sun making visibility difficult, it was more of the same finds. More stainless steel cutlery and cut bone, together with lots of brick and tile, formed the largest quantity. However, the medieval (or perhaps Roman) pottery, together with plenty of post-medieval wares, still occurs enough to keep us interested.
Having finished the field in time for a Christmas break, we will re-assemble at Wimpole on January 6th 2019 to tackle Rectory Farm. See you there. | |  |
|
|
| Pottery and cutlery reign supreme |
| 9/12/2018 |
A new field at Histon but still the post-med pottery and (college?) cutlery dominate the finds. The photograph shows just some of the post-med pot but also the small piece of medieval pot and part of a nice flint blade. The farmer has confirmed that pig swill from the colleges was deposited on the land in the past, hence the collection of spoons, forks, knives, ladle and cake slice we have found. One wonders what the replacement cost must have been for the college (or colleges) concerned!
We will have our final 2018 walk this coming weekend as we finish off the fields we have started. The new year will probably start with a trip to Wimpole - so away from the nice peaty soils and back to the heavy clays again. | |  |
|
|
| Publications concerning CAFG |
| 5/11/2018 |
The group gets a mention in 2 new publications.
In Current Archaeology we have the inside back page (which is devoted to highlighting various local groups) in the latest December issue (as shown in the photograph).
The second is in an article by Bill Franklin in the latest PCAS Vol CVII for 2018, pages 107 - 118. This studies a document relating to Wimpole that came to light as part of the group researches into the estate. | |  |
|