We’ve been asked by the management at Cobham Hall if we’d like to help rediscover a pond on the grounds. This pond, amongst other features in the garden, was designed by Humphry Repton in the late 1700s. Andrew started the group off yesterday and the work will continue into next week.
Some of our team are getting involved in the upcoming community dig at Lullingstone.
As part of the recently launched Darent Valley Landscape Partnership Scheme, a large-scale project run by Kent Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund will take place. The community excavation and related activities will take place at Lullingstone Roman Villa this July, in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the original excavations.
Excavations open to members of the public to sign-up and take part in will be available to book between Monday 15 July and Sunday 28 July. There will be opportunities to wash and process finds, as well as dig. Children’s activities will also be available, as will a special exhibit on the original excavations at the villa (1949-61), talks and tours of both the villa complex and the current excavations.
Excavations/clean-up is getting underway at Stringmans Field from 8th to 19th July (no weekend). We are giving the trench a tidy, extending the existing slots to reveal more of the barrow structure, and put in a couple more to get the extent of the ring ditch. The aim at the end of the two weeks is to gather enough information to draft a full report, then backfill by machine. Click here to view the excavation strategy.
Meet on site at 10 am….parking is in the adjacent field (see above) but the estate has asked if we keep parking to a minimum as that field is currently in meadow, and they’ve done a bit of extra tree planting.
Because of parking restrictions and the fact that it’s a fairly compact site, we’ll need to keep numbers low (max of eight per day) so contact Richard if you are interested in digging.
We are working with Lees Court Estate and the Kent Archaeological Society on this project.
