Garden Archaeology

Athersley, New Lodge and Smithies' very own Time Team will be coming to gardens and schools around the area from Monday 2nd September.

Look out for this banner on front walls, fences or hedges - when you see it, it means our local Time Team are doing a small archaeological dig in that garden!

Each day we will dig a 1m by 1m archaeological test pit in two gardens. We have almost a full list of gardens for the 2013 dig season but still have room for more volunteers to help dig. The exciting part is, we don't know yet what we'll find from our area's past!

Please get in touch if you'd like to find out more or get involved. We'll also hold dig seasons in 2014 and 2015.

Romero Communities win Heritage Lottery Fund support

The Romero Communities have received £79,800 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project, Hands on History, in Athersley and New Lodge. Led by volunteers from the local community, the project aims to help local residents discover the archaeological past beneath our feet and lead courses in archaeology and local history. The project begins in September and runs until May 2016.

Explaining the importance of the HLF award, Fiona Spiers, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund -Yorkshire and the Humber said “This exciting project will enable people to actively learn about the history of their local area and gain skills in archaeological investigation.  This project really will uncover the hidden heritage of Athersley and New Lodge, letting everyone get involved and learn about their community’s past!”

Carol Clair of Romero Communities says “We are grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund who have awarded the grant to look into the archaeological history of Athersley and New Lodge. This means we can dig archaeological test pits, do geophysical surveys and run courses in archaeology and local history. Anyone who would like to have a go at archaeology is welcome. You don’t need to know how to dig or do geophys as archaeologists will train and supervise you. We will also provide all equipment.”

The test pits will be dug in people’s gardens during September for the next three years. We are looking for finds such as old pots and clay tobacco pipes that can show how the area was used before the estates were built. In October, we also hope to do geophysical surveys of the area to the north to see what ancient features are buried beneath the soil. Pupils from all three local primary schools will also get the chance to join in. They will dig test pits in their school grounds and have lessons about archaeology.

Finds from the test pits will be shown at a Finds Road show in November.

If you live in Athersley or New Lodge and would like to find out how you can get involved contact Beryl Russell on 07516641796. We will also have stalls at the St Helens Gala, Laithes Lane pit fields on the 28^th August and New Lodge Celebration Event, on village green behind Roundhouse Medical Centre, 31^st August. Please come along for a chat. There is also a Facebook Group called Hands On History Barnsley.

Overview of Athersley Archaeology

Here is overview of known archaeological sites in and neighbouring Athersley and New Lodge.

Athersley and New Lodge Desk-Based Assessment

The area of Athersley, New Lodge and Smithies has only a small number of known archaeological features. The only sites situated in the study area recorded in the South Yorkshire Sites and Monuments Record prior to the start of this project are John Carr House and the associated moated manor farm at New Lodge (See desk-based assessment, site nos. 33-35), and the sites of two mills at Burton Smithies – a paper and corn mill and a fulling, paper and woollen mill (site nos. 42-43). Water for the mills was brought from the River Dearne along a mill leat (site 48). Further sites recorded in the SMR just outside the study area include St Helen’s Chapel and Well (sites 5-6), Royston Cross (site 9), East Gawber Hall Colliery Fanhouse (site 37), the Ridings post-medieval house at Monk Bretton (site 5), and the Barnsley Canal, opened by 1804, which passes just to the south-west of the study area (site 29-30).

Other known features within the study area include the cropmark of an Iron Age-Romano-British field system, recently identified by Chris Scurfield (site 3), a small number of farmsteads recorded in the 1854 and 1896 first editions of the Ordnance Survey (sites 51-54) and a late-19^th century railway line (site 49) associated with a range of 19^th – early 20^th century collieries lying just beyond the study area (sites 45-47, 50). The 1892 Ordnance Survey also records a gravel pit (site 57) and a quarry (site 58), described as old suggesting their abandonment by this date. There is also the small Carlton Reservoir (site 56).

The 19^th to 20^th century landscape development of the study area can be broadly characterised as rural farmland with woodlands until the second half of the 19^th century. The two mills at Burton Smithies were the main industrial features that were in existence prior to the mid-19^th century. From the mid-19^th century the area became more industrialised with the creation of a number of collieries and the railway line that serviced them. It is only after the Second World War that the residential areas were built that now form Athersley North, Athersley South and New Lodge.

Hands on History begins

This is the blog for the Hands on History project. Over the next three years we're going to dig test pits, look at finds, do geophysics and hold exhibitions about the archaeology of Athersley and New Lodge.

We're beginning with over two weeks of digging test pits in gardens and primary school grounds this coming September.

Then we'll have a geophysics weekend on October the 12th and 13th. We'll also do fieldwalking to look for artefacts in fields during the weekend.

We're also planning a Finds Roadshow and exhibition in November to show what we've found. We'll confirm the venue as soon as we have it.

We're also running tea time courses introducing archaeology and local history at Richard Newman Primary School. Each course lasts 8 weeks and is free!

The dates and times are:
Teatime History - Starting Monday September 23rd - 5pm to 7pm.

Teatime Archaeology - Starting Thursday September 26th -5pm to 7pm.

We'll post more news and a dig diary as the project gets going.

If you would like to find out more, volunteer or book a place on one of the courses email Bill - billbevan001@gmail.com