Ravenglass 2019 - the conclusion

 Digging Trench 4 on the cliff edge!

That was a good week! The weather was mostly kind to us - handy as we were digging in such an exposed position facing the Irish Sea. 

  

Another cobble surface!

 In 2017, test pits east of the Barrow to Carlisle railway unearthed Roman occupation continuing at least 250m north of the fort. This year, this activity was found to cover the entire area west of the railway line, increasing the area of the vicus by another 2 hectares. Cobble surfaces, drains and gulleys suggest domestic and industrial activity, similar to that found north and east of the fort in recent years. Further questions, such as the date of this activity, will require more extensive excavation.

              Tea break (left to right) Brian, Leo, Len, Alan, Stephe, Bryan, Zoe and Debbie

Thanks so much to the professional archaeologists who gave their time for free: Bryan, Debbie and Zoe. Also to the locals who helped: Brian, Leo, Len, Alan, Stephe, Nick and Craig.

Romans in Ravenglass exhibition launched!

The Romans in Ravenglass exhibition was launched at the Ravenglass Railway Museum on Friday 17th February! Lots of people were invited, including the main sponsors, the LLW Repository. Unfortunately, the author of the panels, Kurt, was unable to attend but hopes to see the exhibition later in the year.

Meanwhile, Brian & Leo got a starring role on the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Co Ltd Facebook page.  Here they are installing the exhibition panels:

Catch the exhibition from now until June 2019.

Installing the exhibition!

As seen on the Facebook page for the Ravenglass Railway Museum: this is project stalwart Leo starting to fill up the exhibition cabinet with lots of Romans in Ravenglass finds. 

The exhibition will open on 15th February, with lots to see, including the cabinet, exhibition boards and videos.

Day 5 - Excavations at Muncaster Castle

 

 

 Trench 1 showing rubble on both sides of the culvert, with the path at the far end

 

Trench 2 having been backfilled already, we devoted all out attention to Trench 1. Removal of the base of the path at the east end of the trench revealed more rubble, presumably the same fill as that at the west end of the trench and in Trench 2. Whatever the rubble filled was a very large cut. Although we didn't find anything Roman during the excavation, there is clearly still lots of archaeology to investigate at Muncaster Castle.

The final day backfilling team: Len, Bryan, Rowan and Alan

 

All that remained to do was to backfill Trench 2, then off to the cafe for some cake!

Thanks to the 2018 excavation team: Bryan Antoni, Alan Bell, Cath Duncan, Anita Garnett, Bridget Gerry, Brian Kennish, Rowan May, Leo Saldanha, Doug Scales and Len Watson. Thanks also to Peter Frost-Pennington for his support and for letting us use the Castle's cafe; and to Sharon Arrowsmith, Muncaster Castle curator, for supplying information about the site. Roll on 2019!

Day 4 - Excavations at Muncaster Castle

 Anita, Bryan, Len and Bridget working in Trench 1

 

The main discovery in Trench 1 was that the culvert had been inserted into the rubble fill. It is likely that the rubble filled a large ditch heading towards the castle, and the culvert had be constructed to improve drainage.

Leo and Rowan working in Trench 2

All that remained to be done in Trench 2 was to record and backfill it. However, Leo managed to recover a fine collection of 18th century pottery from the rubble layer!

The next blog will sum up the four days of digging!

Day Two - Excavations at Muncaster Castle 2018

  

Bryan excavating the rubble layer alongside the culvert in Trench 1

Tuesday

Good progress was made in both trenches. In Trench 1, the culvert was found, complete with large cap stones. To one side, a layer of large stones appeared to fill a large mysterious cut. In Trench 2, a similar layer of stones was found, suggesting that the cut extends into that area and is quite large. So far, the finds suggest that the cut was filled in in the 18th or 19th centuries. Hopefully we will find out tomorrow what this feature is, weather permitting!

Leo and Rowan in Trench 2, with one of the massive stones in the fill visible in the foreground

Day Three - Come on Aileen?

We were remarkably free from rain after missing Storm Aileen, but some of the trenches were flooded.

 Clay ?flue (right in section), ash & charcoal (left in section)

In TP1 there is a possible clay wall with layers of ash and charcoal alongside the flue of a furnace.

TP2 has more stony, ashy deposits

Doug cleaning the cobble surface in TP5

TP5 was opened and immediately a cobble surface was uncovered - could this be the main road north from the fort to Hadrian's Wall?

 

Hungry heron at the 4pm feed

The finds team, sadly missing Leo for the moment, continued to sort through the twenty boxes at Muncaster Castle.  Despite being distracted by the Bird Displays, Brian and Sandra managed to get through the bulk of the finds boxes today.  Tomorrow the last few objects will be listed. But how many herons will turn up at tomorrow's 4pm feed?

Day One - Good weather, nice trenches and nicer people

We've opened four trenches (Test Pits 1-4) looking for more evidence of the Roman vicus north of the fort. Len, Les, Alan, Chris and Doug helped Bryan and Kurt with the digging.

Les and Len in TP2 admiring their finds

We have indeed found evidence of the Roman vicus in this area! It looks very promising and we hope make more interesting discoveries tomorrow.

Alan and Chris working

And here's Bryan shovelling enthusiastically

Meanwhile in the dig HQ Brian, Leo and Sandra were investigating the finds gathered from Ravenglass beach in recent years. They are preparing the finds to be sent to the specialists.  However, they came across a very strange find!  Comment on the blog if you think you know what it might be ...

It is made of ceramic and is a very strange shape  ...

On the underside, it looks like it may have been attached to something

What will tomorrow bring?

Kurt's Excavation diary, 12th - 16th September 2016

Monday 12 September

 Ravenglass - part of the sea wall

Here we are again, just a brief visit this time. Kurt and Bryan examined the new sea wall in front of the Roman fort – massive boulders set in a deep trench. Let’s hope that it will prevent erosion of the fort for the foreseeable future.

Tuesday 13 September

 

On site, working hard

While Bryan was getting his car fixed in Whitehaven, Kurt assisted the locals (Brian, Leo, Len, Alan and Nick) in recording a small mound near the Decoy Pond. There had been talk of this being an ancient mound, but a recent investigation had been inconclusive. The heavens opened in the afternoon, so we decided to complete the work the following day!

Wednesday 14 September

 The finished trench

With Bryan back on the case, we made steady work of the small trenches across the mound. This confirmed that the mound was entirely natural. Similar features were observed in the surrounding area, and are probably merely irregularities in the landscape, which formed following the last glaciation some 10,000 years ago. Not the most exciting conclusion, but that’s archaeology!  Sandra arrived by train during the day, and in the evening we had a fine meal in the Ratty Arms with Brian, Patty, Leo and Debbie.

Thursday 15 September

The morning was spent on the Ratty railway, taking in Eskdale Mill at Boot. This impressive working watermill now has a third waterwheel, this time devoted to the production of electricity. Bearing in mind the many powerful streams in the area, it does seem strange that these streams are not utilised for power generation with the aid of some sympathetic engineering.

 

Is it Pot or Not? 

In the afternoon, up at Muncaster Castle, Sandra & Bryan sorted the last batch of Roman finds recovered from the beach, probably mostly from the fort. The pottery included Samian ware, the brick and tile included flue tile from a hypocaust, and there was also the greater part of a fine quernstone. This added to the already impressive assemblage of finds that had been recovered from the beach.

Friday 16 September

Still on guard at Ravenglass

Back to York, via a snack van at Devil’s Bridge, Kirby Lonsdale!  Thanks to the Ravenglass locals for being so welcoming again. Hopefully we’ll be back soon.

What's going on?

The team, comprising some of the usual suspects,* will be out in Ravenglass between 12th-16th September, investigating a mound, and also recording finds made on the beach.  If you see us, do come over and we'll tell you what we've found.


*Brian, Bryan, Kurt, Leo & Sandra; Rowan wasn't able to come with us this time