creeslane

creeslane

Ancaster Site Update

There has been no further work at Ancaster House since the last update. However we are preparing to start excavations again imminently. We had planned further excavations but unfortunately it appears that the weather will make that impossible so we have had to delay the reopening until the beginning of June. The plan now is that we will start to prepare for this and give people an update on what was achieved last year there will be a session looking at the excavations at the regular FARI meeting.

Hawton Park Field/Civil War Project

Last month I mentioned a possible upcoming project looking at the English Civil War defenses of Newark. This would have started with excavations at Hawton Park Field which has been one of our long term sites and which has been subject to geophysical surveys and excavations by both FARI and professional units over the last decade.

Unfortunately after a series of meetings and discussions we have had to conclude that we are not happy with the planning for this project and that the differences between FARI, the County Archaeologist and English Heritage on one side and the project managers on the other are simply too large for a compromise to be achieved. We have therefore decided to withdraw from the project.

This does not mean we will not be carrying out future excavations at Park Field. However the excavations will be organised and managed by FARI so that we can satisfy both ourselves and County that they are being undertaken in the right way and that everything is being properly recorded.  Given the amount of work we have on at the moment it is probable that this will not be until next year at the earliest but we will keep you up to speed as things progress.

Meanwhile we are hopeful that more projects looking at the Civil War Earthworks of Newark may be in the planning stages and that FARI will be able to get involved with those on a volunteer basis when they materialise.   

Farndon Fields Update

There has been no further fieldwork on the site since the last newsletter but we are currently preparing for the start of test pitting commencing late June and continuing throughout July.

On Wednesday 12^th June there will be two training sessions – one in the afternoon and the other in the evening – to prepare people for the test pitting. Please remember that even if you feel you cannot actually get down on the ground to dig, there will be plenty of other work to be done in support of the excavations including processing finds and helping with recording. We will also need people to act as guides and greet members of the public who come to visit the site during the excavations. If you are interested in any of these activities as well as the digging please come to one of the training/planning sessions on 12^th June.

Prior to that there is one other date for your diary as far as the Ice Age Journeys project is concerned. On Saturday 11^th May there will be a one day workshop held at Creswell Crags to look at the future management of sites such as Farndon Fields. This workshop aims to bring together a series of heritage management specialists and planners to explore the issues for the Farndon Fields site. The participants will be primarily people living and working around Farndon involved in Ice Age Journeys. It is intended that this workshop will arm us with the essentials for working up a proposal for the future management of the site. We would like to get as many people as possible along to the workshop so if you are interested in the future planning for the site then please do come along and take part. We are very grateful to Sue Saddington the local County Councillor for Farndon who has arranged some funding for the day so that we are able to provide lunch to all participants free of charge.

If  you would like to attend then please either let John or I know at the phone numbers below or email Ice Age Journeys at: