Voyages to the House of Diversion 
Seventeenth-Century Water Gardens and the Birth of Modern Science


July 2015 - Big Dig II

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Just before launching full time into the big dig at Hanwell we did find the time to finish the clearance and recording of the area of ground to the south of the barn. Peter did some detailed elevation drawings of the buttresses and I started on the planning but the rest had to wait until August.


     July
The cleaned area south of the barn looking north west.                                                                                            Planning underway.




Back at Hanwell we wanted the big dig to get off to a flying start - we were very conscious that last year most of the really interesting things came up after we had finished - and so Peter and I began by stripping topsoil and preserving snowdrop bulbs for replanting before any of this year's volunteers arrived. We also worked hard setting up the infra-structure, a rather grand term for a marquee and a couple of gazebos plus, new for 2015, a boardwalk out to the island. Although not a particularly hazardous site by archaeological standards we do take health and safety quite seriously and each new arrival was treated to a site tour and a heath and safety briefing.


July




July     July
We opened two areas in the Sunken Garden: a large open area to the east and a long section through the bank to the west.




July     July
The marquee is up and Peter and Mike assemble tables.                                                                The boardwalk complete with safety rope and warning signs.




July     July
Work begins in earnest with volunteers continuing to save snowdrops whilst on the island the weeds are cleared mercilessly.




July
And here we all are again, relaxing outside the new improved tea tent: fridge, kettle and microwave this year!




July     July
Verna reopened work down on the increasingly complex Second Sluice whilst up at HANI (W) drawing of stone slabs revetting the slope is underway.




July        July
Lost in the greenery, Peter marshals his forces.                                                                   No Pat and Albert this year so we had to take turns on finds washing duties.




July
After completion of the first stage of excavating the west section in the Sunken Garden, early 20th. century landscaping.



Our strategy for the fortnight was to concentrate on the Sunken Garden in the hope of clarifying the origins and subsequent developments of this part of the garden but as the lake remained low we took the opportunity to excavate around part of the periphery of the island... and then of course there remained the Second Sluice.




July     July
Out at the island, we didn't really start finding anything until we extended our trench until it was around 3m out from the existing perimeter when we came across a stone edging at the point where the lake bottom plunged away.



As part of our offer to further educate our volunteers in the ways of diggers we had our first away day in Chacombe where we conducted a programme of test-pitting in the grounds of the well known seventeenth-century Poplars Farm. This was undertaken in response to our host Geoff pulling out a load of sherds at the end of our day's workshop on early medieval pottery with Paul Blinkhorn. He was astonished as there were some very nice pieces of pre-conquest material amongst this collection all of which had come from underneath his summerhouse. Our test pits were designed to try and establish something of a context for these finds but in truth results were a little disappointing, still the exercise was a useful one and the hospitality superb! Everything was back-filled at the end of two days except for the first pit in the outbuilding next to Silver Street which revealed a wall foundation further in and on a slightly different alignment from the existing end wall. Geoff is hoping to extend this and use it as a training exercise to engage more of the local community in archaeology.





July     July
As rain was forecast we tried to make sure everyone was undercover, pit 3 below a tarpaulin and pit 4 under a gazebo.




July     July
Pit 2 was in a fine barn and pit 1 under the floor of a small building adjacent to Silver Street




July
The next day the sun shone and we enjoyed a splendid lunch....





July
... but back at Hanwell our lakeside trench was partly flooded, there had been a lot of rain.




July     July
Down on the Second Sluice partial demolition of the blocking wall started to clarify matters whilst Peter's trench in the Sunken Garden began to reveal walls with unfeasibly deep foundations




July
Not really sitting down on the job, Chris begins the tricky process of planning the steps at the north west corner of the Sunken Garden.




Our second away day was to visit our good friends over at the Roman settlement at Warmington, this continues to be in equal measure an exciting yet enigmatic site. Again it was a very different experience for our volunteers and one in many ways much more in line with conventional archaeological practice... long lines of trowelers working their way across a surface... classic. There was some additional excitement as some folks were asked to assist in the excavation and recovery of a Roman hound dog whilst others help set up sections or took a turn on the soil sieving. Unfortunately rain clouds blew up, you can certainly see them coming at Warmington, and we finished around 3.00, still another valuable experience and many many thanks to David Freke and his team for giving us such an interesting outing.




July     July
David updates us with latest news and here they go, our line of trowelers.




July     July
Federica gets to grips with the sieve whilst Sarah receives instruction in how to lift a dead dog.




Our final couple of days at Hanwell saw the full extent and complex nature of the walling and paths along the east side of the Sunken Garden revealed whilst the structures on the west section continued to remain elusive. It was quite a sad moment when we said our goodbyes to the last of our student volunteers and then started to take down the tea tent. However, as always, there remained plenty to do with efforts certain to continue into the autumn.




July     July
A puzzling set of steps emerging from the right, probably early twentieth century but on the other side just loads of rubble, could it be quarrying debris?