SWAG members, including myself, recently took part in an excavation with the Darent Valley Landscape Partnership Scheme. The dig was at St. John’s Jerusalem, a National Trust site in Kent.
In the trenches I joined Michael, who does a lot of work at Scadbury Manor, Kent. This is the site of medieval manorial estate in the Greater London Area. The first family to settled on the estate around 1200 AD, and by 1301 John De Scathebury was the richest man in Chislehurst. The manor estate from that time included fields and woodland, as it still does today.
In 1982 the Orpington and District Archaeological Society began a reserach project into the history of the site and excavations began in 1986. A number of excavations have taken place since then and during Covid lockdowns the site remained open at times for the public to enjoy socially distanced visits.
If you’d like to visit the site or join the team of volunteers in excavation (training given), finds processing, gardening and public events then visit their website and get in touch: http://www.odas.org.uk/
