Significant progress has been made in the last few months:
Day 13 – 9 October. A reduced workforce finishes recording features in Trench 2 and more finds are made in Trenches 5 and 6.
Day 7 – 1 October. Work is concentrated in three trenches, with digging of half sections along some lengths and spot features in others. Part of a ditch, possibly pre-Roman, is uncovered in a section of Trench 2 while another section produces only a considerable number of pebbles. The largest pot base yet found emerges from Trench 6. A heavy shower slows progress in the afternoon.
In the week before the dig, archaeologists had used the evidence from a geophysical survey to pinpoint the site of nine trenches in the field north of Quay Lane and one in the field to the south. An expert JCB operator then removed the topsoil by precision cutting trenches varying in length from 10 m to 40 m and to a depth of 30-60 cm.
As part of its Heritage Lottery Fund grant, The Hanleys’ Village Society plans to carry out a community dig in a field north of Quay Lane, Hanley Castle, leading down to the River Severn, during the last week in September and the first week in October.
Scroll through the presenation or watch it in full screen. Either way the up/down, page up/down keys or the mouse wheel, if you have one, should navigate you between the slides.
The atmosphere was electric. 30 children (aged between 4 and 6) waited with excitement for the start of the ‘Community Art Project’ day, with a man who could carve stone – Michael Scheuermann.
Stage 1 of the project has been completed and the designs produced by students from Hanley Castle High School in 8hrs of workshops were exhibited in the Village Hall just before Christmas. The exhibition was attended by over 50 visitors, 26 of whom commented in a Visitors’ Book with ideas and suggestions. Sally Jakeman and Joe Hargreaves, two of the student designers from Hanley Castle High School, and the professional sculptor, Michael Scheuermann, who is leading the design process, gave visitors first hand information on the exhibits.
Maintained by The Hanleys’ Village Society
The Hanleys' Villages 