Coven Community ArchaeologyProject

A community archaeology project for Coven is beingplanned to take place in late summer/autumn 2020.

If you’d like to know more about the event or if you thinkyou might like to get involved, please read on!

Following the popularity of ‘Time Team’, ‘Digging for Britain’ and similar TV programs, interest in grass roots archaeology has never been stronger and as a result many community projects have been carried out in towns and villages in the last few years.

Recent experience suggests that a project in Coven would be a fantastic event for our community and we hope that many of you will feel inspired to get involved. Importantly, this event will be free of any cost to the parish or participants, being wholly managed and carried out by volunteers under the supervision of a local archaeology group.

What will a community archaeology project achieve?

• It will help provide a better understanding of the history and development of the village

• The ‘hands-on’ experience will foster an interest in history and archaeology in anyone who takes part

• It will be a community event which involves no financial outlay• Hopefully it will strengthen social bonds, build a greater sense

of community and give residents pride in their village• It will be open to volunteers of all ages and abilities with a

number of activities suited to less able residents

In the following pages we will attempt to answer some basic questions about how the project will operate and how you can take part.

We hope you will join us and make the Coven Community Archaeology Project an event that will be remembered by

participants for years to come and provide a valuable record of the history of our village.

What might be discovered?

We know that Coven was in existence at the time of Domesday and that Roman and pre-historic objects have been found very close to the village. A community project might uncover evidence from any period of history, such as traces of buildings, ditches and pathways or finds of pottery, artefacts and domestic items. Given the age of the village and its continuous occupation for at least 1,000 years, there is good reason to believe that the project will uncover interesting archaeology.

How will the project be run and what can I do?

The Coven Community Archaeology Project (CCAP) will be conducted under the guidance of Wolverhampton Archaeology Group (WAG). WAG has more than 20 years experience in practical archaeology and has worked with Time Team and Professor Mick Aston. The County Archaeologist has been informed about the project and the group will provide liaison with other professionals as necessary.

WAG will provide all instructions, practical training and help with materials but those taking part will need to use some of their own garden equipment such as spades, shovels, gloves, plastic sheeting and secateurs. Folding garden chairs, tables and gazebos may make the project more comfortable depending upon weather conditions(!) and a camera to record the role you have played in the event is recommended.

Volunteers can get involved in many ways:• By digging ‘test pits’• Sieving excavated soil to ensure that nothing of interest has been missed• Cleaning organising and recording finds• Recording, drawing and photographing excavations

In short, the project will involve a whole range of community-building activities to which you can dedicate as much time as you wish.

A late or post-Medieval cobbled floor discovered during a community dig at Albrighton

What is a ‘test pit’ exactly?

It’s a 1 meter square hole with a maximum depth of 1 metre, but frequently much less. Training willbe provided to ensure that the pit is dug properly and that the ground is restored to near original condition afterwards. If you’ve seen archaeologists at work on TV, you’ll know that digging a test pit isn’t just a case of picking up a spade and digging a big hole. Soil is removed very carefully in layers with features and finds from each layer carefully recorded, photographed, drawn and described. The guiding principle is that digging is a destructive process and that unless meticulous recording is carried out, the information will be lost forever. But don’t worry, we’ll provide enough training beforehand and easy to follow notes to ensure that you can carry out your excavation safelyand with confidence.

You want to dig up my lawn?!

No, we want you to dig it up yourself! We’re asking people in the village to offer up a small part of their garden for a couple of days to dig their own test pit. Unless you have a bowling green quality lawn, the long term effects will be negligible and any sign of the excavation will have disappeared within a month or two. If you have another suitable patch of ground that can be used instead, for example a vegetable plot or area of rough ground, that would be ideal. The only criteria is that a testpit must not be within 1 metre of any wall, fence, shed or other structure or near to any mains services such as gas, electricity, sewerage pipes etc. In order to properly supervise the event, we willonly consider test pits within the area outlined on the map below and the location of proposed pits will be subject to approval in advance.

Please bear in mind that it will not be worth digging in areas that have received significant landscaping. If you garden has been substantially raised, levelled or otherwise altered within living memory it may not provide any interesting archaeological evidence. That said, the gardens of many modern houses will have escaped the construction process and can still contain valuable archaeology – several gardens in Coven are known to have turned up coins, clay pipes, pottery, iron-making residue, bottles and metallic artefacts as well as traces of former buildings!

The Albrighton project attracted interest and participation from people of all ages

A test pit with spoil on plastic sheeting to protect the grass

The same spot a few months later - there is no trace of the dig

How do I get involved?

If you’re happy to dig a test pit on your property or you’d like to take part in some other way, pleaseregister your interest via the email address or phone number below. Ideally, tell us what you’d like to do and how much time you’d be prepared to commit. The maximum commitment is likely to be two consecutive days digging a test pit, unless you want to help with other tasks beforehand or afterwards, but even a few hours on a single day would be very welcome. If you’d like to dig in your garden and can allow people to view your work in progress, so much the better but we will have other excavations on a number of public sites in the village where volunteers can get involved and anyone can watch what’s going on.

Will the final results be available to everyone?

Absolutely! The idea of community archaeology is to give ‘ownership’ of local history to local people. Final reports will be freely available in digital format and will also be lodged with the relevant record offices, libraries, museums etc to ensure that the information is preserved for future generations. Printed and bound copies may be produced if there is enough demand but if so there will be a small charge to cover the cost.

Any finds will remain the property of the householder or landowner (subject to the Treasure Act if someone is exceptionally lucky!) but may be donated if a permanent home can be found for the project’s finds. WAG will take care of reporting any finds which might be required by law to be recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

A final public presentation will be organised to review the project, discuss the results and assess the appetite for similar events in the future.

Children cleaning finds from a dig held at their school

What happens next?

Before committing to the project, WAG needs to work out whether we can muster sufficient volunteers and whether enough householders (or organisations) will allow pits to be dug on their property to make the project worthwhile. A minimum of 10 pits will probably be required to make the project viable and at least two or three volunteers will be required for each pit. If you can team up with neighbours or friends so much the better; you will be able to take it in turns doing the hard work such as digging and moving soil while others sift soil, wash finds and record progress etc. Given enough space, four or five people per pit is probably the ideal number but the more the merrier within reason! Please note that all individuals taking part must register for the event in advance.

If there are more sites available than can be managed in the project time frame, a second event will be organised if possible. The dig will take place over three or four days although a single pit can usually be excavated and properly recorded by two or three people within a couple of days.

Once the required number of sites and volunteers has been achieved we will contact all interested parties to tell them what happens next. Briefly, this second planning phase will entail

• Arranging one or more instructional digs for all volunteers before the event takes place• The distribution of instructions via email to allow time before the event for any questions to

be answered• One or more WAG members visiting proposed locations shortly before the event to confirm

suitability and mark out the test pit location.

At the event itself, volunteers will proceed with their dig or other activities over a two, three or four day period. Volunteers will be able to call on WAG members for help and advice at any time during the event.

The reporting, collation and analysisphase will be undertaken by WAG andany other interested volunteers before afinal public presentation is organised toreview the project.

If you have any questions about theproject, please feel free to ask using thecontact details below.

A test pit containing worked stone and numerous archaeological features

IMPORTANT:

Volunteers can be of any age, from children to those in their 80s or beyond. Children will require supervision by a parent or guardian at all times. Wolverhampton Archaeology Group will not provide supervision of children under any circumstances.

The project is only open to Coven residents who have registered in advance.

WAG has public liability insurance which covers anyone over the age of 12 who takes part in our public digs. However, volunteers digging on their own property do so entirely at their own risk. The organisers will provide basic safety guidance before the project commences but cannot accept responsibility for accidents or injuries incurred, or damage caused by volunteers. It is strongly recommended that all volunteers have up-to-date tetanus protection.

Volunteers are responsible for the safety and security of their own property and possessions. WAG cannot be held responsible for loss or damage to property or possessions howsoever caused.

All volunteers will be required to sign a form to confirm that they have received training, will abide by the principles of the project, understand any risks and accept all responsibility for their own actions.

Get involved regardless of age or ability

Digging a test pit

Please register your interest in the project as soon as possible!

• send an email including your name, address and phone number to ccap@wolverhampton-archaeology.org.uk

or

• call Paul Robinson on 07419 819979

AREA MAP:

Approximate area in which test-pits will be considered

Proof that community archaeology works

In 2019 Wolverhampton Archaeology Group carried out three public archaeology projects which generated a tremendous amount of interest and brought hundreds of people together.

• A dig over the course of several days at Oak House in West Bromwich was visited by dozens of children and adults, many of whom took part in the dig itself. The event was such a success that the local council has asked us to arrange another event this year and to investigate another site in the borough.

• A dig was organised for pupils at East Park School in Bilston and the children were captivated by the history they uncovered. The school declared that it had been a hugely successful event and wished to maintain a close relationship with WAG to enable children tobecome involved in similar projects in the future.

• A three day dig took place at Albrighton, involving local schools and members of the public.The response was overwhelming, with many hundreds of local people turning up to take partor find out what had been uncovered. The local history society were so impressed with the outcome that they have asked us to investigate numerous other sites and have reproduced copies of our report for their members.

You can read more about these and other projects at www.wolverhampton-archaeology.org.uk

We hope you will join us and make the Coven Community Archaeology Project an event that will be remembered by

participants for years to come and provide a valuable record of the history of our village.