Dear Volunteers,
Grampus Heritage is delighted to invite you to join our exciting new community archaeology project. Dust off your thermals and grab a flask because this time we are ‘going to the wall’!
Funded by Defra through Solway Coast National Landscape’s Farming in Protected Landscapes programme, we will undertake a geophysical survey (resistance and magnetometry) on farmland at Drumburgh in Cumbria. The survey area (map image attached) sits within the Solway Coast National Landscape, within the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site and includes a scheduled area covering the projected route of Hadrian’s Wall to the east of the fort, leading to the proposed location of milecastle 76. It is hard to imagine a more ‘protected landscape’, and yet, our survey can add greatly to our understanding of the archaeology in this area. The survey will cover the eastern extent of the scheduled area from the fort ‘Congavata’ to the proposed location of Milecastle 76. By covering the whole area highlighted, the survey is an exercise in prospection to identify archaeological remains from all periods.
We have a Section 42 license to enable our survey to cover the area of the scheduled monument. You can view the Historic England List Entry by clicking this link: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1014699?section=official-list-entry
It can be tempting to think that such an iconic monument as Hadrian’s Wall is fully understood, but this is not always the case. The listing acknowledges that: “Drumburgh Roman fort, known to the Romans as Congavata, commanded an outlook to the north and east over the Inner Solway. There has been very little archaeological work carried out on this fort, and it remains one of the least well known Wall forts.”
The survey will aim to cover the whole fields highlighted, rather than just the scheduled monument. This is because we always aim to look at the bigger picture and we may well encounter features associated with pre or post-Roman activity. Once again, this is a landscape-level survey with high archaeological potential.
If you are able to join us for any of the days listed below please reply to Emma at: emmagrampusheritage@gmail.com
Survey Location: The Grange, Drumburgh, CA7 5DW
Please note that the survey is based at The Grange with parking available in the yard. The Grange is located on the opposite side of the road to the castle (north side of the road) and accessed by a driveway from the main road through the village (images attached).
Survey Dates:
We are seeking 5 volunteers per day to join us on the following dates:
2024
Monday 25th to Saturday 30th November
Monday 2nd December to Wednesday 4th December
Monday 9th December to Saturday 14th December
Monday 16th December to Thursday 19th December
2025
Monday 6th January to Saturday 11th January
Monday 13th January to Saturday 18th January
Working hours 10am to 3:30pm
Parking in the yard of The grange (please car share if possible)
Toilet facilities and indoor lunch area available at The Grange yard.
