Back to School

It is that time of year again! The summer is almost over and the kids are going back to school. So are we!

During September and October we will be at Athersley North, Athersley South and Laithes Academy. About 180 pupils will find out about how archaeologists discover things, have a go at digging a test pit, discover the stories about their finds then do some creative writing about those stories. Look out for the results later.

2015 Test Pits

We have excavated a couple of test pits following interest from the gala. We didn't find much in them but all those who took part enjoyed the day.

Windy Gala

Thank you to everyone who came by, found out about our work and had a go at digging a test pit. It was a successful day depsite the wind constantly threatening to blow away our exhibition!

St Helen's Gala

Look out for us at St Helen's Gala on Saturday 18th July.

We will have an exhibition about our finds and you can have a go at digging a test pit with the help from our Archaeologist and community diggers.

The gala takes place on the Laithes Lane Memorial Field, Athersley from 11am to 3pm.

Romero Reporter

The special heritage edition of the Romero Reporter is being delivered to all households in Athersley and New Lodge. You can also download a copy here.

Romero Reporter

Finds reports from 2014

Here are copies of all of the finds reports from the 2014 test pits to download and read.

Pottery Report

Pottery Data Tables

Clay Pipe Report

Glass Report

Glass Photos and Tables

Glass Data Table

Metals, Slags and Industrial Residues Report

Animal Bones Report 

Geophysics Report

The team conducted a geophysical survey in March.

The team surveyed the area with a cropmark of buried ditches between Athersley and Royston. We hoped to gain more information about the cropmark. The survey did show ditches but they seem to be in slightly different places! The survey also identified the traces of ridge and furrow. These are long ridges created by ploughing with ozen or horses in the past. Today, the fields are used to grow crops and none of these features can be seen on the ground.

Download the geophysics report

Aerial photograph showing the cropmark.

A plot of the features discovered by geophysics.

Fieldwalking

We have fieldwalked over the area where the geophysical survey is being conducted. We are doing this to look for pottery and other artefacts. Our aims are to find what sorts of objects survive in ploughed fields realting to Athersley's past and to see if anything helps to date the cropmarks.

From our first look at the pottery we have found lots of Victorian crockery plus some sherds of possible Medieval pottery.

We will publish the report once it has been finished.

A most unusual Spanish plate found in Athersley

One of the strangest finds from the 2014 season was a Victorian commemorative plate. Nothing strange about that you say? Well, it commemorated a notable Spanish general!

Commorative plate for the Spanish General Arsenio Martinez de Campos.

The plate came from test pit 59, on the site of an old farm near Sandra's Convenience Store.  This was a plate with a design commemorating General Arsenio Martinez de Campos and, in addition to a portrait of the general, also carried a registration mark on the underside indicating that the design had been registered on 17^th July 1878 and the plate was made by a firm named ADAMS.  Unfortunately the name Adams was a common one amongst pottery firms making a definite attribution difficult. The most likely candidate may be the firm of William Adams & Sons of Tunstall and Stoke-on-Trent. The absence of 'England' after the maker's name suggests a date prior to 1891 but, as noted above, after 1878.  In spite of this uncertainty, the registration mark and the maker's name confirm that the plate was of British manufacture and was not of Spanish origin.  General Arsenio Martinez de Campos (1831 – 1900) was a significant figure in late 19^th century Spanish politics and his career is summarised in the Encyclopedia Britannica as follows:

Arsenio Martínez Campos,  (born December 14, 1831, Segovia, Spain—died September 23, 1900, Zarauz), general and politician whose pronunciamento (military revolution) on December 29, 1874, restored Spain’s Bourbon dynasty.

            Martínez Campos received a military education and after 1852 served on Spain’s general staff. A competent soldier, he took part in the international expedition of General Juan Prim to Mexico (1861) and fought Cuban rebels (until 1872). On his return to Spain, he briefly taught military science and then was sent to put down rebellions in Valencia (1872), Alicante and Cartagena.

            After Alfonso XII, the son of the deposed Isabella II, had declared Spain a constitutional monarchy (November 24, 1874), and other generals disillusioned with the republic had rallied to him, Alfonso took the throne following Martínez Campos’s pronunciamiento. Martínez Campos then took command of Alfonso’s forces against the Carlists, made the fighting less brutal by signing agreements protecting the lives of the wounded and prisoners, and brought about the end of the civil war (February 1876). His humane policy, which he then applied in Cuba, ended the 10-year rebellion there on February 10, 1878, with the Peace of Zanjón.

            On his return from Cuba, Martínez Campos served briefly as prime minister in 1879 and two years later as minister of war. After war broke out in Morocco (September 1893), he was put in command and succeeded in negotiating the Treaty of Marrakech (January 29, 1894). The following year he was sent to Cuba again but failed to win over the rebels. He resigned and returned to Spain (1896).

(http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/367040/Arsenio-Martinez-Campos)

English potteries produced a large number of commemorative wares, including examples for export and, as the evidence from Sheffield shows, such export pottery was sometimes sold locally, usually because of over-production.  It is unclear whether this was the reason for a plate, presumably intended for the Spanish market, appearing in Barnsley or whether there was some local interest in the career of the general.  Further research into this subject might prove interesting.

The underside of the plate indicating that the design had been registered on 17^th July 1878 and the plate was made by a firm named ADAMS.