We Dig Wollaton Park

We’re back at Wollaton Park!

Following on from our 2021 excavation, we’re chasing the archaeology that we found to try and tell more of the story behind them.

Aims of the new season:

• To establish the true function of the stone wall discovered in 2021

• To establish the date and function of two parallel ditches discovered in 2021

• To continue investigating the rock cut terrace edge to establish the likely location of the steps down from the formal lawn

• To locate the extent of the lower terrace garden

We are going to be digging to the south east of where we were digging last year - we found some interesting artefacts last year, as well as geodes, coral and shells, so we are hoping to uncover more information about where they came from and when.

This year we are also going to be offering the opportunity to get involved with some building recording. There are many structures of varying sizes across the park, and we are interested to understand how they relate to the development and changes to the park landscape, especially around the 18th century. We know from our excavations that a lot changed in the 18th century and buildings were deconstructed for the purposes of making the parkland look more nature. We want to try and find out if any of these building remains were used to construct later buildings in the park, and how they relate to each other. Hopefully recording the buildings in questions will help us to understand these relationships.

We will also be continuing to offer training in basic finds identification, GPS and EDM survey techniques along-side basic excavation and recording skills.

Provisional Schedule