Day 7: Tuesday 11th June

Despite the rain overnight, our spirits weren't dampened.  In Trench 1, excavation is continuing to reveal the rest of the flanker wall and a layer of flat schist type stones running alongside its interior face. These may be simply part of the tumbled destruction layers but their regular appearance suggests that they could have been purposefully placed. Hopefully this will be determined through further excavation tomorrow. Outside of the flanker wall, removal of rubble and accumulated loam continues and the ‘line of stones’ discovered earlier has been further investigated. It turns out that these are large slabs set solidly on end into a dug-out linear ‘cut’ and packed in with soil. Clearly it was intended that they would stay solidly in place and indeed they have. Our current interpretation is that they formed a verge for an 18^th-19^th century pathway or garden feature. As we have made much progress with this trench throughout the past week, an overlay of the drawn excavation plan will have to be completed in the morning before excavation continues.

Meanwhile, excavation in Trench 2 is coming to a close. The brick-lined drain is now fully exposed and based on the observed sequence of events and layers (referred to in archaeological terms as ‘stratigraphy’), it is the earliest feature within Trench 2, yet its exact date of construction is still unknown. Excavation of the drain’s interior tomorrow may provide some valuable dating evidence. 

Thanks to our volunteers Li, David and Pearl for all their enthusiasm and hard work, we made great progress in the excavation today.

Grace, Li and David excavating in Trench 1

Discussions about the drain feature in Trench 2