The wonder of volunteers, working as a community archaeologist in Greenwich and Kent

Reposted from Festival of Archaeology

Created for A Day in Archaeology 2021 by Andrew Mayfield

2020 was all about running community archaeology projects through a pandemic, but 2021 has brought new challenges and opportunities…

At the end of May I started a new job as community archaeologist for the Greenwich Park Revealed project, see https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/greenwich-park-revealed(link is external). Over the next three years there are going to be lots of opportunites to get involved with archaeology projects at Greenwich, so do contact me on amayfield@royalparks.org.uk for more details. One of our first projects will involve removing a Victorian path from across an Anglo Saxon barrow cemetery! We are also planning a test pitting project in the deer enclosure in the SE corner of the Park (this Autumn!).

View over Greenwich Park, looking towards the Queen's House and canary wharf

The photo looks north over part of the later 17th designed landscape. On Charles II’s return he had plans drawn up for a grand garden at Greenwich. He even consulted Louis XIV’s garden designer. The plans were never fully realised, but we will be restoring the completed elements as part of the project. The Park has everything from prehistoric flint scatters to a Roman Temple and Saxon barrows to World War Two air raid shelters…and the many conduits under the site are a story in themselves!

When not at Greenwich, I continue to work in Kent, juggling several projects at once. I am writing up excavations and surveys for the Fifth Continent Landscape Partnership, and running LiDAR walks and digs for the Sevenoaks Greensand Commons project https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/get-involved/our-projects/sevenoaks…(link is external)

The narrow gauge railway at Shorne Woods Country Park

Key to my work in Kent are the Shorne Woods Archaeology Group at Shorne Woods Country Park (see www.shornewoodsarchaeology.co.uk(link is external)). This group of dedicated, enthusiastic, passionate and experienced volunteers continue to explore the amazing archaeology of the Park and drive me onwards to write up past projects and plan future ones in collaboration with them. They support all of my work in Kent, volunteer on other archaeology projects, support the Finds Liaison Officer with rescue projects and this very weekend will be running an open day at the park for the Festival of Archaeology, see https://festival.archaeologyuk.org/events/archaeology-park-1624814343. The photo showcases some of their current careful excavation work on the narrow gauge railway at Shorne Woods. This served the clayworks at the Park between the 1930s and 1960s and although little remains above ground, much still survives buried just beneath the surface. To learn more about our work at Shorne, do contact me at andrew.mayfield@kent.gov.uk.

When not doing all of the above, I also volunteer as a Young Archaeologists Club leader, so I encourage you to support the Council for British Archaeology in any way you can! 

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