Where and what

We in FEAG are very fortunate to have the chance to explore this site. It is in a very interesting position, on the southern side, but part of, the Roman rural settlement site, known as Bullock’s Haste.

Permission to explore the main part of Bullock’s Haste is not likely to be easily given. It a Scheduled Monument and so protected. The field we shall be working on had, until the 1960s, similar visible earthworks but was then levelled so that it could be used for arable farming. Perhaps for this reason It is not scheduled and so it is a matter for the landowners whether any excavation takes place.

Fortunately for us the landowners, Sue and Gerald Walker, are keen to learn more about the nature of the settlement that was there and have encouraged us to pursue this investigation. They ploughed the soil once when they took over the land in the 1980s in order to sow grass. It has remained in pasture since then. Following that ploughing, and while putting in new hedges over the years, they have come across an impressive collection of pottery sherds, nearly all clearly identified as originating in the Roman period. A number of Roman coins have also been found on or near the site.

It will be interesting to see if we come across any evidence that occupation of the settlement continued into the Anglo-Saxon periods and, indeed, if there is evidence of pre-Roman occupation there.

Although this field does not appear as dramatic on the surface as the scheduled monument, geophysical survey, using magnetometry and resistivity measurement, shows that there are features below the surface reflecting the kinds of features showing above ground in the scheduled part of Bullock’s Haste. During two weeks in July (9th – 23rd) this year we shall dig some test trenches to investigate a sample of these features.

Do get in touch of you would like to become involved in some way. Lucy Mutter is our Project Co-ordinator and would be pleased to hear from you by email at Lucy_Mutter@live.co.uk . There will be a range of activities which need to be undertaken, not just digging, and you don’t need to commit yourself to the whole period. We shall be working each day in that two week period. We shall be charging £3 per day to contribute towards the costs of the dig and will provide tea, coffee and biscuits during the day.

John Stanford

CambridgeAntiquarian Society (CAS)

We are pleased to be conducting the July excavation jointly with the Cambridge Antiquarian Society. They have not undertaken fieldwork for some time and are keen to find out what level of interest there is among their members in getting involved in this form of archaeology. About 20 members of CAS (as at June 23rd) have said they would like to be involved at some time during the excavation.

The collaboration was encouraged and made possible by the fact that Carenza Lewis has been the President of CAS for three years and the Honorary President of FEAG for a year and a half.

FEAG benefits greatly, not just from having a body of enthusiastic, and experienced, excavators but also from the opportunity to draw on the expertise of many professional and academic archaeologists who are members of CAS. A great partnership!

John Stanford

Mark Hinman

Mark is a professional archaeologist. He worked for a number of years with the Cambridgeshire County Council archaeological unit, through its county linked commercial phase and, until the start of this year, into Oxford Archaeology East. He is now a Regional Manager for Pre-Construct Archaeology. We are therefore very pleased that he has accepted our invitation to be a professional adviser for us as we undertake the Twenty Pence Project.

Another important link is that Mark is a Council member of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society and so strengthens the links between FEAG and CAS.

Mark has already contributed to our planning by commenting on our proposed plans of action, recommending some on-line resources and offering to support us in other ways too. I hope that our efforts match up to the standards he expects of his own work.

John Stanford