| Annual General Meeting |
| The AGM on 5th April 2017 resolved to increase subscriptions for 2017/18 to £12 for individual membership and £18 for families. Officers and committee remain unchanged, |
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| On to a new field at Childerley |
| 15/10/2017 |
This weekend we moved on to Lark Rise, does that sound like a certain television series?? Anyway, under good dry, if cloudy, conditions with the new crop just beginning to show, we had another field in the SW of Childerley with relatively few finds. The photo shows a selection of them, including post medieval (transfer print, stoneware, bottle neck) and the possible medieval pottery and finally a burnt flint to complete the date range. This thin scattering of medieval pottery is not enough to talk about settlements but it is interesting that we did not recover any Roman pottery. Our rule-of-thumb about Roman settlements being about 1.5km apart on these lands still appears to work, as we would not have predicted any Roman activity in this area.
Next week we will be moving closer to Knapwell village and it will be interesting to see what turns up there. | |  |
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| Back to field walking |
| 8/10/2017 |
The past weekend was great for field walking, ground soft but walkable, sun shining and warm. We finished our small field and there was a single find to report. Moving on to the second field, we actually had some things to report, as the photo shows. A possible flint tool, two probable medieval period pottery finds and the late 17th C clay pipe (based on its shape and pipe bore).
The absence of many finds may yet be more evidence to support the theory that Knapwell Wood did stretch all the way over these fields and down to the old A428 in previous times. | |  |
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| Weather washes out field walking at Childerley |
| 1/10/2017 |
| Intermittent rain and very sticky conditions underfoot meant there was no field walking at Childerley. Hopefully conditions next Sunday will allow us to finish the two fields we have started. |
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| Autumn field walking starts back at Childerley |
| 24/9/2017 |
After our summer break, we started field walking again at Childerley. We started to complete our work on a field we did not finish in the spring and started another nearby. The finds were few in number but we did enjoy a pleasant walk in the Autumn sunshine!!
The fields lie between two of our Roman settlement finds so, if one believes that Roman settlements were placed at about 1.5km apart, we were not expecting lots of Roman finds. However, the lack of any medieval finds or later could indicate this area has never been the site of any settlement. This would suggest that the mooted extension of Knapwell Wood to the south may have been, in fact, correct. |
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| Another local find from the waste pit |
| 15/8/2017 |
As we have processed our finds from Johnston's Pond we have found a number could be re-constructed to form a nearly complete vessel. The photograph shows a stoneware 1 gallon flagon with the embossed name of J and JE Phillips, Royston Brewery. Missing a couple of side wall pieces and the looped handle, it shows the effect of being buried with lots of rusty cans.
Robert Phillips started the business in 1725 but it was sold to Greens of Luton in 1949, although it operated as Greens wine and spirits subsidiary in 1952. It appears to have still been listed in the telephone directory as recently as 1962.
How old the flagon is cannot be determined with any confidence but the fact that the company name is embossed, not printed as was the later fashion, suggests an early 20th C date | |  |
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| More finds from Johnston's Pond |
| 25/7/2017 |
As we dig deeper at Johnston's Pond it becomes ever clearer that we are dealing with a waste tip deposited within the brick structure. Some of the finds lie beneath the collapsed brickwork and include lots of bottles and jars, rusted metal cans and so on. We even have a rusted clock and a bicycle bell!!
The photograph shows one of the bottles, still containing murky liquid. It is an example of the unusual Codd bottles, designed to hold fizzy drinks. Invented by Hiram Codd of Camberwell in 1875, it used an internal glass ball to seal its contents. Gas pressure forced the ball against a rubber ring in the neck and to pour out the contents you had to press the ball down with a special wooden tool supplied with the bottle. They were in use from 1875 to around 1930 in this country.
The embossed makers name is CRAMPTON and CO who were active in Newmarket and Sawston in the 1920's.
UPDATE: In 1861 John Crampton set up two bottling plants, one in the High Street, Sawston and the other in Park Lane, Newmarket. The Sawston plant closed in 1928 but the Newmarket one carried on into the early 1960's. | |  |
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| More news from Johnston's Pond |
| 18/7/2017 |
Another two eventful days at Johnston's Pond.
As we dug down further it became obvious that the N-S wall was actually bonded into the E-W curved wall after all. The broken brick joint was caused by the whole wall leaning inwards at the top, either as a result of pressure from the weight of the clay bank behind it or when the wall was broken. Continuing downwards, a large piece of intact brickwork came into view which looks like it might come from a corbelled roof to the structure. In amongst the demolition debris we found a number of glass vessels - some unbroken like that shown in the photograph with its stopper intact and some contents visible. It is an Owbridge's Lung Tonic bottle - this cough medicine was invented in 1874 but carried on being made until 1969 - so not much use as dating evidence!! The rest of the glassware has a very 1940 - 50's look about it and this may be the period when the structure was demolished. But by whom? If this mid 20th C date is correct why are there not records of the structure there.
We are carrying on, although the depth of the trench may force us to stop. There is certainly no sign yet of an outlet. | |  |
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| More mysteries at Johnston's Pond |
| 11/7/2017 |
Our dig of 2 weeks ago produced 2 walls and several unanswered questions, therefore we were out at Johnston's Pond again seeking more information. What we actually got were more questions!!
We carried on digging near the curved wall (which runs east-west) and its presumed return wall running north-south. However, as the photographs shows, the curved wall cuts through the north-south wall. There is no mortar sealing the joins between the two so the structure would not have been water-tight. In addition a section of joined-up brickwork lying in the bottom of the trench was not a floor.
This leaves us with several questions - does the north-south wall carry on south of the curved wall? If so, how far? Also the north-south wall itself is curved as the angled bricks in the photo show. What lies below the block of bricks - is there a floor further down?
The net result is that we have more work to do and hope to carry it out this coming weekend. If you are interested do come and see the mystery wall - we might have an answer then. | |  |
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| Another successful dig at Wimpole |
| 25/6/2017 |
Well, what a successful weekend. After hacking our way through the jungle we started investigating the isolated bricks on Saturday. This revealed a debris field of lots of bricks, broken ones as well as complete ones, which appear to be late 18th/early 19th C in date. As we dug down we started to reveal the beginnings of a wall in the middle of the cut in the pond bank. More bricks to the north of this on the edge of the bank leading down into the pond were more jumbled but appeared to be another wall.
Sunday was very eventful - the southern wall kept going down (12 courses of brick to date) and surprised us by being curved lower down (see the photograph) with a return wall on the eastern side. This is a substantial piece of work and we can only guess how deep the brickwork goes. No sign yet of any outflow pipe, but we are still well above the pond water level so not unexpected. Angus Wainwright will visit to decide how to proceed - we are already 1 metre below the bottom of the original cut. More information as it arrives. | |  |
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| While digging we were astonished by the number of butterflies, such as marbled whites, meadow browns etc, flying around. The photo shows how camouflaged they are set against a meadow grassland background. There were also quantities of pyramidal orchids flowering together with a few bee orchids (see the Facebook page). It is so good to see such a varied environment with its attendant wildlife doing so well at Wimpole. | |  |
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| Another interesting find from the past |
| 16/6/2017 |
During our current re-assessment of finds from old sites, we are finding some interesting things amongst them. The photo here shows a part of a brown stoneware bottle neck. Stoneware bottles like this were used during the 19th and early 20th century to house a variety of beverages, such as beer, lemonade and ginger beer.
This type of bottle find is actually quite unusual, although we often recover parts of pots and jars. A common type is the Keiller Marmalade pot. | |  |
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The style of bottle shown in the lower photograph was mostly used to contain ginger beer. Stoneware bottles fell out of favour by the 1920's when the availability of mass produced glass bottles made them less desirable. There were also concerns about the cleanliness of stoneware bottles as you couldn't see inside them. Originally this had been seen as desirable in order to hide the presence of any unsightly sediments lying at the bottom of the bottle.
Prior to circa 1890 most stoneware ginger beer bottles had the manufacturer's name, contents and advertising slogans impressed into the surface. Bottles dating after this time are more likely to have the details printed on to the surface. | |  |
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| An interesting find amongst our old sites |
| 19/5/2017 |
We are currently re-assessing some of the boxes of finds from old sites and finding some interesting things amongst them. The photo here shows a highly decorated piece of salt-glazed stoneware, with a pattern that appears to represent leaves inside a segmented circular border.
After some research, the piece can be confirmed as a part of a probable 17th C Bellarmine jug. The second photo shows a complete jug and the medallion on the centre line, also called a daisy wheel in some places, which is very similar to that on our piece. A characteristic feature is the bearded face mask in relief on the lower part of the long neck (this gave it its German name - Bartmann meaning "bearded man"). | |  |
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They were made in various sizes of jugs, bottles and large pitchers for holding drink and food. Originally made in Germany near Cologne during the 16th and 17th C, they were also copied in England and again in the 19th C during a revival in German stoneware production.
The name Bellarmine is said to be due to an association with Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino who was a detested Catholic opponent of Protestantism in Germany and the Low Countries during the 16th C. It is suggested that the jug was so named by Dutch and English Protestants to ridicule the cardinal who was also known for his anti-alcohol stance. | |  |
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| Our summer activity at Wimpole in 2017 |
| 12/5/2017 |
Our main occupation at Wimpole this summer centres on Johnson's Pond which sits on the same hill as The Folly (as shown in this extract from the RCHM document on Wimpole). It is believed to be the reservoir that fed the fountain that stood behind the Hall (and which we have excavated in the past).
The National Trust archaeologist Angus Wainright has speculated that a sluice gate must have been used to control the flow of water to the fountain, although there is no record of any such feature being located near the pond.
Our job is to cut back the vegetation in a gully leading from the pond in the general direction of the fountain area and investigate whether some bricks seen in the area are part of a sluice structure. The dates for our first effort are the 24th/25th June, with subsequent work depending on what we find. We may also make a further effort at locating the pipeline that led from Johnson's Pond towards the fountain if we have time. | |  |
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| One of our "oddities" |
| 19/4/2017 |
While field walking we often pick up what we call our "oddities", i.e. something not man made but often of a geological nature. One such item from our recent field walking at Childerley is shown in the photograph. At first we thought it might be a burnt piece of bone but its weight said it was probably a fossil.
A quick trip into the Sidgwick Museum and some friendly help says it is a fossilised piece of mammalian bone dating from the Ice Age some 20,000 years ago. It may be associated with the rounded red sandstone pebbles we find in these fields which we know are glacial erratics from the Ice Age.
This is not the only fossil we have found recently - a number of ammonites derived from the Ampthill/Kimmeridge clays underlying Knapwell have also been found. Perhaps more about them another day. | |  |
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| CAFG display opens at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology |
| 10/4/2017 |
Last year Dr. Jody Joy, senior curator at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology here in Cambridge (shown in the photograph), extended an invitation to the group to have a display cabinet in the museum to showcase our contribution to Cambridgeshire's archaeology. Members have worked with him and his staff to bring this about and on Monday 10th April the display was unveiled for the first time.
Thanks to Robert and John the cabinet highlights examples of our work in a very successful way. A new trifold leaflet about the group and its work was produced to accompany the display. | |  |
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| Our display at the Museum in Downing Street, Cambridge is in a temporary exhibitions case on the ground floor – behind and to the left of the case facing you at the entrance. Do go and have a look. | |  |
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| Seeking the Romans |
| 9/4/2017 |
Moving north from Hanging Field, Childerley, we hoped to find the Romans carrying on into the next field. However, there were only a few pieces, not enough to equate to a settlement, in fact not very much pottery of any date.
This was the last field walking of the Spring session as Easter holidays approach. We are planning some possible excavations over the summer months but will return to field walking some time in September. Many thanks to the members who have been out in all conditions this period and also to the landowners without whose permission we would not have a hobby. |
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