Greetings from Kent (and a test pit in my garden!)...

When not digging up my garden, I work for Kent County Council as a community archaeologist. In previous day of archaeology posts I have spoken about the huge community digs we ran at Randall Manor, near Gravesend...but these are different times!

The question I have faced over the past few months is how to be a community archaeologist in lockdown?

At the beginning of March I had taken on a maternity cover role for the Fifth Continent Landscape Partnership Scheme, on Romney Marsh. We had an ambitious plan to deliver a series of community archaeology projects throughout 2020, but within a couple of weeks we were locked down! The plans went out the window and we had to think about what projects we could run and which projects we could do differently. Initially this involved trying to keep in touch with the volunteers and encourage them to undertake research projects from home. Alongside this we ramped up our social media work and created a series of #fifthcontinentfacts. But what about those who couldn't access the internet or other resources from home? This digital divide has being mentioned by others in a range of blogs (see recent posts by Lara Band). One solution has been remote finds processing sessions, where volunteers collect a crate of finds and take them home to mark...these finds have included material from our past Fifth Continent digs, including this fantastic medieval floor tile, from the site of St Martin's Church in New Romney (photographed by Lucie Bolton).

This leads me on to wearing another hat, that of Young Archaeologists Club leader. Working with my wife, Sophie and assistant leader Laura, we have run a series of remote YAC sessions over April, May and June. Our YACs have dug test pits in their gardens, researched the finds they discovered and then investigated the history of their homes... this has been great fun and a fantastic way to keep in touch with our YACs...they have emailed, whatsapp'd and even video called us...you can read about our North Downs YACs adventures on the YAC website https://www.yac-uk.org/

I am also working as the heritage officer for the Sevenoaks Greensand Commons Project...again we have had to delay our planned activities for this summer, but thanks to the amazing https://kentlidar.org.uk/ Kent LiDAR portal (funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and huge credit to the hardwork of Anne Sassin) we have been able to investigate some of the LiDAR results from home and through a series of online posts...what can everyone see here, on Hosey Common?

Finally, I continue to work with the incredible Shorne Woods Archaeology Group (SWAG). A group of volunteers who have come together over the past fifteen years to investigate the archaeology of Shorne Woods Country Park and the wider Cobham Landscape. As past of the #cobhamlandscapedetectives project, a booklet covering our research and fieldwork  came out this year. It is SWAG's enthusiasm for archaeology and volunteering that drives me on. In lockdown we have shared research projects, communicated through a whatsapp group, (we take it in turns to contact those members who aren't online) and we continue to build a community of friendly, supportive volunteers in NW Kent. You can read about our adventures here http://shornewoodsarchaeology.co.uk/

Lockdown has been challenging, but through a combination of virtual and remote activities, the months have flown by and we can start to plan for some outdoor community archaeology this Autumn. See https://www.facebook.com/ArchaeologyinKent/ and https://www.facebook.com/FifthContinentLPS/ to follow our projects or email [email protected] to learn more!