Fieldwork Opportunities in Kent, Summer 2007
Unearthing the legend of Anglo-Saxon Lyminge (4 weeks, late June to July)
Located in the beautiful landscape of the Elham Valley south of Canterbury, Lyminge represents one of the key sites in annals of Anglo-Saxon Kent and early English Church. Thanks to the legend of St Mildreth (founding abbess of Minster-in-Thanet), we know that a monastery was founded here by Etheburga, daughter of King Ethelbert of Kent, c.633 AD. Lyminge ultimately shared the fate of Kent’s other early minsters, falling foul of Viking marauders who ravaged Kent during the first half of the 9th century. But for two centuries it burned brightly as a major religious establishment in the front line of the Kentish church. Run as a double house on the continental Frankish model, Lyminge prospered as a cult centre housing the relics of its founding royal abbess (and for a period those of its sister establishment of Minster) and a major landowner milking the resources of extensive estates stretching into the Weald and to the south coast where imported luxuries could be obtained.
Until recently very little archaeological evidence could be brought to bear on Lyminge’s auspicious early history. That all changed in the summer of 2006 when a small-scale evaluation led by Paul Bennett to the south of the churchyard produced a profusion of pits, ditches and structural features securely dated to the 7th-9th centuries AD. Whilst located at some distance from the church and the presumed outline of the Anglo-Saxon monastic complex, this discovery has the potential to transform our understanding of the physical character and economic development of the wider community of which the Anglo-Saxon monastery was an integral part.
These exciting discoveries have provided the impetus for the launch of a new archaeological project spearheaded by the University of Kent. In the longer term it is hoped that the opportunity will become available to undertake open-area excavations on the site to the south of the church. The chief aim of the inaugural season of the Lyminge project (kindly supported by a fieldwork grant from the KAS) will be to place this site within its wider archaeological context by subjecting a number of strategic areas within the core of the village to geophysical survey and test-pitting.
We are keen to involve KAS members to take forward this groundbreaking work and to draw upon their experience to provide training for University students and residents from the local community. Further details of the season will follow our four weeks in late June and July. If you are interested in taking part, please contact the KAS.
The burial place of St. Ethelburga the Queen, Foundress of this Church and First Abbess of Lyminge A.D. DCXXXIII - XLVII
Randall Manor - Community Project at Shorne Wood Country Park (7 - 22 July)
A second season of excavation at this medieval complex will take place this year. The excavation is part of a community project within the Park and everyone is welcome to join in. Volunteers can dig for as many or as few days as they wish. Schools are on site in the mornings during the week. All equipment is provided.
The site is thought to belong to one of the early branches of the de Cobham family, who later built Cobham Hall. The complex of buildings sits on a platform, created on a slope by retaining walls, with a series of adjacent fishponds running down the hill. Last season’s excavation mainly opened and re-evaluated a previous dig of 1962 which appeared to be within the sevice area of the complex; this year we hope to examine the fishpond sluice system, the extent of the outer walls and the area of the main house.
For further details please mail lyn.palmer@kent.gov.uk or ring 07920 549806 or 01474 823800.
Ringlemere - The Bronze Age Gold Cup Site: Excavation of Monument 3 (25 August - 9 September)
After several seasons’ work, the excavation of Monument 1 at Ringlemere, the large mound which produced the famous gold cup, has been completed, although much remains to be done on the detailed analysis and publication of the results of that project.
Annual ploughing of the field, with its more extensive prehistoric monument complex, however, continues. There seems little doubt that several of the smaller ring-ditches identified through cropmarks and geophysical survey are suffering from plough erosion. Any associated mounds have long been removed and should any burials remain, these are likely to be in imminent danger of being lost.
It is therefore important that at least one of the lesser monuments is examined in order to assess the extent of plough damage to the monument, to confirm the date of that monument (?Neolithic, Bronze Age, or possibly even Anglo-Saxon), to further enhance our general understanding of this newly discovered site and to continue to provide volunteers with the opportunity to work on a major prehistoric site.
Canterbury Archaeological Trust has therefore decided to continue fieldwork at Ringlemere in 2007. It is proposed to examine Monument 3, a 14 metre diameter ring-ditch situated a short distance further upslope from Monument 1.
As in previous seasons, it is expected that two full-time salaried staff from Canterbury Archaeological Trust (Keith Parfitt, MIFA, FSA, Director; and Barry Corke, Assistant Director) will lead a team of volunteers in the excavation of Monument 3. Since the field is presently sown with a wheat crop it is expected that excavation work can start during late August and last for about 15 days. The chosen dates for the main excavation are Saturday, 25th August to Sunday, 9th September, 2007. Volunteers will be welcome on any day between these dates. Please send details by email to barrycorke@ntlworld.com or phone 07968 573415.
Keith Parfitt
If you are unable to help with any of these projects but would like your details added to the Fieldwork Committee’s list of potential volunteers available for future fieldwork in Kent, then please send your details to Andrew Richardson, either by email at andrew.richardson@kent.gov.uk or by post to 5 Frantlingoe Cottages, Folkestone Road, Dover, Kent CT15 7AA.
Andrew Richardson
LEFT, ABOVE & BELOW: Schoolchildren digging at Randall Manor within Shorne Wood Country Park. A 2-phase medieval hearth at the site. BELOW: Monument 1 at Ringlemere.