Romans in Cawood

LATEST NEWS

We have just published our site report from our Cawood Common Dig in 2019.

Click Here :

Cawood Common 2019 | jon-kenny-com-arc (jkcomarc.co.uk)

can download a copy from there.

—————————————————————————————————————-

Our latest dig was a community project digging for Iron Age and Romans in Cawood

This finished in October after postponement in August due to wet weather

We are having the pottery find identified by a local expert then we shall have a better idea of the dates around the site

A view across the site off Hagg Lane on Cawood Common

The field is owned by the Thirsk Family who very kindly gave us permission to excavate some trenches on the site

From aerial photos found by Margaret Brearley the Project Manager we could see many field boundaries and the remains of round houses right across the 37 acres of the site

This was along way to walk so we chose sites close together in the centre of the field

In this photo taken by a drone you can easily see the marks left thousands of years ago by the people who lived here

Close up we have marked red lines which show where we dug the trenches. There were 5 trenches and an extra trench for the school parties to dig closer to the road. The grass was quite long and it was quite a walk to the trenches so we thought it would be easier for the small children to dig near the road

Our latest venture is to be an archaeological dig on Cawood Common.

Tony Hunt and Jon Kenny with the drone used to take aerial pictures of the fields

The drone photograph showing marks indicating Iron Age roundhouses and possible Roman field systems

During the first few weeks of August we shall open 5 trenches across features we can see from aerial photography

Everyone is welcome to help with the dig

An open day on the Sunday 11th August 11 to 4pm will be held

You are very welcome to visit and see what we have found

This piece of early iron was found whilst field walking last summer

Evidence from metal detectors indicates the presence of more iron in the ground

This could show that Iron Age people were smelting Iron on the site

In the last few months we have been looking at the possibility that Romans lived here

We had a talk by Kurt Hunter Mann an expert from York who is helping us understand more about Roman life

The earliest finds were in the 1930’s at the Caravan park on the edge of the village

Some pottery was found in a ditch.

This site has now disappeared but others keep appearing

With the help of North Yorkshire County Council Heritage department we now have a list of possible sites to investigate

In the centre of the village close to the traffic lights whilst digging a hole for a new lamp post some roman glass making equipment was found including a crucible

Pottery from the caravan site

roman-pot-found-cawood