fieldwalking

Field walking is a most immediate and fascinating method of discovering the history of an area. The earth can give up unexpected artifacts, revealing significant information about peoples who have lived there, hundreds, even thousands of years ago. For us in Littlebury, engaged at the time in a community history project to publish a book on our parish history it was both enjoyable and illuminating.

It is imperative to have the permission of both landowner and farmer, and advisable to engage the services an archaeologist or expert, or at the very least someone who has been on a field walk before. We were fortunate to have landscape historian Dr Tom Williamson, of the University of East Anglia, now Professor in English Landscape History, with us.

The farmer is the first contact because he needs to be able to allow the walk, ideally after ploughing and harrowing so that the soil is reasonably well broken down. Even if he has sown seed it is still possible to walk if the seed hasn’t germinated, but of course this is at his discretion. It is fair to say that if the farmer is unable to give an exact date it will be because the weather dictates to him – and he may only be able to guess. The team needs to be reasonably flexible as to timing as he may not be able to give much notice. Organizing that the field is available at the same time as an expert and, of course, the walkers is probably the trickiest part of the exercise.

It is important to be discreet and not divulge the position of the field until the last minute; word gets around fast and it is preferable not to have nighthawks precede the walk. Also it is not fair on the farmer if he finds his field dug over.

Below is our advance publicity for the field walk printed in the July 2004 edition of the Wendens Ambo and Littlebury Parish News. As it turned out we were wrong about the size of squares we were to walk at that stage.

Once we knew it, we publicized the date but notified our walkers by email and phone of the final venue. Below are the instructions that then accompanied a map sent out to walkers.

Dear

We are so glad you can join us on Sunday 19th September.

Please park in the field shown on the map overleaf and walk to the assembly point (it takes only ten minutes). If you need to, you can drop off near the field and return the car to the park. There is no parking at the site.

Dr Tom Williamson will give a short talk at 10am advising us on procedure etc, so please ensure to arrive before then. Please bring the following:-

1, Wellies, waterproof jacket, sunhat, in short, 'any eventuality' clothes.

2, Two 1X1 inch width five foot stakes (or near) with two white plastic bags to put over the tops of
them and rubber bands to hold them in place and a hammer.

3, Plastic bags for collecting.

4, A picnic lunch and liquid refreshment.

If you have metal detectors you are welcome to bring them, but Carl may well have sown the field, so no deep digging please! We would be grateful for your discretion regarding the details of the site as we do not wish to attract treasure seekers. Your contribution will be most important as details of our finds will become part of the Essex archaeological record as well as that of our own Littlebury history.

We are looking forward to an enjoyable and productive day.Any queries, please ring01799 528201 or email sanders-art@talk21.com

With best wishes

Lizzie Sanders and Gillian Williamson

LHI is a partnership between the Heritage Lottery Fund, Nationwide Building Society

and the Countryside Agency

The ideal day is a dry one, but without too much bright sunshine, although this did not impede us when we walked in Littlebury.

The area to be walked is broken up into 10 x 10 metre squares using a theodolite.

Each corner of the squares is marked with a garden cane or stake with a plastic bag tied to its top. In the middle of each square, weighed down with a stone, is a plastic bag identified by a label bearing a letter of the alphabet, A-Z, then A1-Z1 etc, however many of them it is planned to walk. As a rough guide, over two hours 37 walkers covered 27 squares. It is useful to bring long tape measures.

The squares are then drawn in position on a large-scale map and marked correspondingly.

Dr Williamson, was always about half an hour ahead of the walkers with this i.e. the field wasn’t completely marked out until the end of the morning.

About eight to ten walkers make their way across the square looking at and riffling through the soil for artifacts (putting anything interesting into a plastic bag) rather like the police do when they search for evidence after a crime. Walking is probably not the right word; we were quite low to the ground – often on our knees - searching. Some brought metal detectors, but those who used their eyes did better.

When the square has been covered the finds are tipped into the labeled bag in the middle and it is tied up and left until the end of the session.

When the walk is complete the bags are collected together and the field left tidy and litter free.

Thirty-seven people turned up for our walk. We had a lot of fun on the day, immediately finding pieces of pre-historic pottery, then brick and tile from the Romano British, mediaeval and post mediaeval periods and various pieces of bone and metal. In addition there were a couple of amazing finds - a rare gold Catuvellaunian coin which is now listed on the Celtic Coin Index and a short while later a Roman nummus coin, a forgery of its time. It was very exciting.

The coins were immediately reported to the landowner and photographed. Carolyn Wingfield at SaffronWalden Museum was informed and also Caroline McDonald, the Finds Liason Officer at Colchester Museums, both of whom were immensely helpful with identification. The coins were deposited with the museum for safe keeping by kind permission of Lord Braybrooke.

Later the rest of the finds were washed and returned to their appropriately labeled bags. At this stage Gillian and I were able to discard some of the stones that the smaller children had enthusiastically collected and reduce the weight of the finds, which was quite considerable.

A few weeks later Tom Williamson kindly returned to Littlebury village hall and helped a large group of us with identification, explaining what we were looking at. After recording what we had every individual item was labeled and bagged (instruction for this came from the museum) and also deposited with them. Final reports with spreadsheets detailing the finds, and photographs of the day and the coins were presented to Saffron Walden Museum, the Colchester Museum Resource Centre and to Dr Williamson.

Best practice dictates that a‘Working, Finds and Treasure agreement’ is signed by all walkers. See below.

Our field walk was a cheerful community event and we learned a lot about our parish history.

PROJECT DURATION: From…………………………………..To………………………………….

The purpose of this document is to provide an agreement with volunteers participating on archaeological projects carried out as part of the development control process under PPG 16, or supported by the Heritage Conservation Unit of Kent County Council, by the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Kent, or by the Kent Archaeological Metal Detecting Support Unit. The agreement is between the volunteers and the unit, contractor or organisation directing the project.

All persons working on or assisting with the project will at all times abide by the instructions of their assigned archaeological supervisor.They will operate according to the specified methodology for the project, unless instructed otherwise by the archaeological supervisor, and they will read and sign the agreement overleaf.Strict confidentiality regarding the location of the site and finds made thereon will be maintained until informed otherwise by the directing unit or Heritage Conservation, KCC.

All finds made during the course of the project remain the property of the landowner, with the exception of finds covered by the Treasure Act.Finds should be excavated or recovered according to the agreed procedures of the project, and be suitably recorded and bagged or put in a finds tray or box, as directed by the project specification.All finds will be collected by the project director or their nominees and will be either removed for study offsite or be sorted and quantified on-site. Significant finds will be individually recorded, and photographed/drawn and investigated as necessary.They will then be suitably stored/conserved and be either placed in a suitable public archive or returned to the landowner, depending on the agreement reached with the landowner. In some cases, with the agreement of the landowner and Heritage Conservation, KCC, some finds may be retained by the directing organisation (e.g. PAS or KAMSU) for educational and outreach purposes.Consideration may also be given by the project director to allowing some finds to be retained by finders, where they are not of archaeological significance, and where the landowner is in agreement.

Under the revised Treasure Act Code of Practice, rewards are not normally payable to those working under archaeological direction or control.This includes unpaid volunteers such as metal detectorists.All participants in the project must agree to comply with the requirements and operation of the Treasure Act 1996 and its subsequent amendments and sign the waiver overleaf relinquishing any claims to rewards for finds made during this project.In the event of materials covered by the scope of the Act or subsequent amendments of the Act being found the Finds Liaison Office for Kent must be informed.If there is any doubt as to whether or not a find constitutes treasure, it should be treated as potential treasure until proved otherwise.

Participants in the project are assumed to be responsible for the safety of their own work during the course of the project. Metal detectorists should be covered by suitable public liability insurance, and a photocopy of the relevant insurance cover note should be attached to this sheet and given to the project supervisor before commencing any work.Everyone engaged in the project should follow safe working practises to the full, legally required standards at all times.A Risk Assessment will be completed in advance of any proposed work, and this should be supplied to, and read and agreed by, all those undertaking fieldwork during the course of the project.

I/we the undersigned have read the terms and conditions specified overleaf and agree to abide by them for the duration of the project.In the process of working on the archaeological investigation/excavation at …………………………….. between the dates of ……………………………………... I/we will be working under the direction or permission of ……………………………………………………………………. and hereby waive all rights to rewards for objects discovered that could otherwise be payable under the Treasure Act 1996.I attach a copy of my current Public Liability Insurance covering me for this activity.

Name:.……………………………………………………………….Date: ……………………………..

Position:…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

LHI is a partnership between the Heritage Lottery Fund, Nationwide Building Society

Fieldwalking, a rough guide