Archive for the 'Outreach' Category

Anchors Aweigh! New scheme to promote South West’s Marine Heritage

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on November 29, 2007
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Wessex Archaeology has just launched a new project to promote the region’s marine heritage. This has been made possible by a £50,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Archaeologists are inviting the public to join them to Time Travel by Water into the past on a voyage of discovery.

The project aims to bring school children and community groups across Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset and Gloucestershire right up to date with the new ways marine heritage is being explored and some of the amazing new discoveries.

Time Team TV celebrity Phil Harding, whose ‘day job’ is with Wessex Archaeology said ‘I am excited by this project. Most people think of marine history as being about galleons and doubloons. That part of seafaring history is important, but an amazing range of other work is being done: on wrecks, in harbours, and all along the coast. Some of the most hi-tech kit you will ever see on an archaeological project is the scientific survey gear marine archaeologists use. Now you don’t need to get your feet wet to see below the sea.’

In the two-year project, archaeologists will create time travel learning packs that can be used in classrooms and on the web, but a big element will be visiting community groups and schools so that they too can travel back in time. A new Education and Outreach Officer will organise themed exhibitions for those audiences, as well as lectures to local societies.

Euan McNeill, who is leading the project, commented, ‘In the last few years there has been an upsurge in the amount of work done on marine archaeology. This ranges from surveying the submerged landscapes that Britain’s first pre-historic settlers walked on; to WWII aircraft crash sites. Great historical events like the Armada are famous, but the sea has always been important in the South West and has helped shape its history. Linked inland by rivers, canals, roads and railways, the influence of the sea is never far away. This project allows everyone to time travel with us and we are delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund is supporting this project.’

Nerys Watts, HLF Regional Manager adds ‘Over the centuries, Britain’s seafaring has helped shape our diverse society today. Many journeys that became globally significant set sail from the South West and so the HLF is pleased to support Time Travelling by Water. As more and more people appreciate just how significant their heritage is, it helps to make sure that we can preserve it and pass it on for future generations to enjoy.’

For further information contact:

Euan McNeill
Wessex Archaeology
Portway house
Salisbury SP4 6EB
Tel: 01722 326867
e.mcneill@wessexarch.co.uk

Pan Community Archaeology Project 2007

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on August 9, 2007
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Wessex Archaeology has been commissioned by Pan Neighbourhood Partnership to run a summer holiday archaeological dig on a small area of land behind Garden Way, Pan on the Isle of Wight.

You can follow the excavation over at our Events Blog.

Practical Archaeology Course 2007

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on February 13, 2007
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Practical Archaeology Training Course at Down Farm, Sixpenny Handley

September 3rd-7th and 10th-14th 2007

Following the success of the last three years, these five day courses will take place at Martin Green’s farm on Cranborne Chase “one of the most carefully studied areas in western Europe”. The Down Farm landscape includes parts of the Dorset Cursus and Ackling Dyke, Bronze Age barrows and Roman and Iron Age buildings. It is a rich, multi-period site in a wonderful setting.

The course will include instruction and practice in site surveying, excavation, recording (the production of both written records and scale drawings) and finds processing.

Find out more about the course, and details about how to sign up.

Volunteers peel back Pan’s past

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on November 29, 2006
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For the past 9 weeks, enthusiastic amateur archaeologists and metal detectorists have gathered at Pan, Newport to join in the investigation of two large fields on either side of Pan Lane. Each Saturday groups of between 10 and 25 volunteers have lent a hand, searching the fields for clues to Pan’s past. And there were plenty! Hundreds of objects have been washed, marked and sorted to see what they can tell us about the area.

It is clear that people have lived here for thousands of years. On the very first session sharp-eyed volunteer Dawn Russell picked up a flint tool which is at least 400,000 years old! Jane Roberts of Wessex Archaeology said “It’s difficult to spot a small piece of worked flint in the mud, amongst lots of other stones. The volunteers were really keen and we had to persuade them to take a break!”

Archaeology at Pan, Isle of Wight
Continue reading ‘Volunteers peel back Pan’s past’

National Archaeology Day 2006 at Salisbury Museum

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on July 6, 2006
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Come and join Wessex Archaeology on Saturday 15th July when we celebrate National Archaeology Day!

We will be joining forces with Salisbury Museum, the Wiltshire Conservation Centre and Salisbury Cathedral.

There will be hands-on activities with a medieval theme for all the family, so you can make your own heraldic shield, create your own medieval tile, take part in a mini-dig and find out more about the sights, smells and bugs of medieval England!

Enjoy meeting some pleasant peasants as they prepare food in their kitchen, and while you are there, listen to the music of a medieval musician.

This is also a great opportunity to visit the Wiltshire Conservation Centre before it moves from Salisbury.

National Archaeology Day is at Salisbury Museum, The Kings House, 65. Cathedral Close, Salisbury. For travel directions visit their website: www.salisburymuseum.org.uk

National Archaeology Day 2006

National Archaeology Day

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Margaret
on July 21, 2005
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Saturday’s National Archaeology Day was a resounding success. Six hundred people enjoyed the many free activities on offer at Salisbury Museum organised by staff from Wessex Archaeology, the Wiltshire Conservation Centre, the Cathedral Stonemasons and the Museum. Phil Harding’s demonstration of flint knapping drew the crowds throughout the day and the Stonehenge lecture by Dr Julie Gardiner was well attended. Mike O’Leary’s ‘tall stories, short, fat and thin stories’ were very popular with the younger visitors who also proudly carried home more than 100 clay gargoyles, pebble monsters and decorated goblets at the end of their busy day.

Online Exhibitions

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on May 5, 2005
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Visit our new online exhibitions section to see the display panels from some of our recent exhibitions across the UK. You can also get to our exhibitions from their project homepages (in “projects“) or from our “Learning” section.

Practical archaeology course 2005

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on April 15, 2005
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Details of this year’s practical archaeology course are now online . You can read all about last year’s course (2004), including a diary, photos, and video coverage.