Event report

Field walking day at Bridge Farm

Saturday 5th April, 2008
11.00 am - 4.00 pm

Archaeologists: Professor Richard Morris, Dr David Barker, Dawn Parry, Fiona Sharpley

David Barker talking to the field walkers

Forty adults and children took part in a field walking day at Bridge Farm. This activity was part of the research being undertaken by the Trust into the social history of the area.

Richard Morris started the event with a talk about the archaeological procedure and techniques that we would be employing, and Dawn Parry supervised the practical details, making sure that walkers did not stray out of their allotted 10 metre squares.

The walkers brought their finds back to the shippon at Bridge Farm, where, directed by Fiona Sharpley, some of them sorted and washed the pottery and placed the sherds in the appropriately numbered trays, ready for identification by David Barker. Despite the long day and the cold conditions all the participants were as concentrated during David Barker's clear exposition on the history of the use of pottery in the area as they had been at the beginning of the day.

We shall follow up this event with Pottery Day on 26th April, when David Barker will guide us through the identification and recording of the pottery we found.