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Geophysics surveys
Geological survey Downley Common
Archaeology of Downley Common - photos
Downley School excavation
Bricks and brick-making
Events next in the programme
Art and archaeology on Downley Common
Poetry at Downley School
Maps and archaeology
The 'Big Dig'
Art workshop on Downley Common
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Downley School excavation
Location: Buckinghamshire
A total of sixty children were involved in the excavation that was fully supervised by Dr Jill Eyers of Chiltern Archaeology and a very helpful team of adult volunteers and teachers.
The aim of the excavation was to investigate the nature of the pits that are to be found over much of the Common - locally known as the 'dells'. They are certainly man-made structures. Were they clay pits for the brick-making kiln that the team are chasing on the Common? Locals will tell you that they are bomb craters, troop dug outs for training during the war, or swallow holes, or all manner of other things!
A previous limited excavation of 4 pits on the other side of the Common proved some of the pits to be chalk pits (for agricultural lime-making), not clay pits.
The artefacts that may potentially be found within the fill of these pits may be useful in dating the end of life of the extraction - be it clay or chalk.
The work was highly successful - not only did we find half a tank(World War II variety!) in one of the pits, we found nice layers of 1940s picnic items down through the Victorian period to some pretty blue pattern transfer-ware plate sherds that date to the early 1800's and one potential late 1700s plate. A full catalogue of finds will be uploaded at a later date.
The work was also a wonderful experience for all the school children that were involved and here are some extracts from thankyou letters we received after their work with us as archaeologists:
"It was a lot of fun. It must be so fun being an archaeologist. There were so many interesting artefacts, they were great!!!" (Olivia)
"Thankyou for taking us on our archaeology dig. It was the most exciting thing I'd ever done. I hope some day you find something exciting like a Viking helmet" (Stephen)
"I had a lovely week. It was so much fun. I enjoyed washing the finds and looking at them. It was fascinating." (Ellen)
"I really enjoyed your dig and learning about the geological layers. I loved getting muddy and digging up that big brick. It was tiring but fun." (Katie)
"It was the best week in school of my life. We had such fun digging but our backs ached a bit, but all in all it was excellent and fabulous." (Jolie)
"It was fun digging in the ground and looking for lots of artefacts. Thankyou for telling us what all the artefacts were. It was so much fun." (Ashley)
"Our group did not find much, but at least we had loads of fun. I saw the first geological layer was really mucky but as you get down it becomes much smoother." (Alex)
Alex's comment is a geological 'eureka' moment - he had just discovered layers tell stories - organic 'muck' from the new woodland growing up since the 1940s, lying over the brick clay - used in the kiln operation during the 1700s.
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