How we can help

Our raison d'etre is to help people get a better understanding of their archaeological heritage. The obvious way to do this is by excavating sites of possible archaeological interest, but it is not usually possible unless the site is being scheduled for development, and then the professionals are brought in!

However, much can be learnt by "non invasive" techniques such as field/site walking, theodolite surveying and geophysical techniques. The use of these can enable the archaeologist to get an idea of what lies 0.1 - 1m underneath the soil, without touching a spade or a JCB.

This is where we come in! As an enthusiastic group of amateur archaeologists we have now acquired quite a reputation for carrying out sound and useful investigations using our own geophysical kit. We like to hear from groups, that are not too far away, about their archaeological projects which might be enhanced by a session of geophysics.

We've helped local history societies who are curious about parch marks in paddocks, home owners who want to know how far their moat used to go, schools which want some practical surveying and fetes which want something unusual to generate interest.

All we ask from the people that wish to use our talents is that they cover the basics such as the land owners permission, that they have done some background research on the site and that there is a good reason for us to give up our time to be there! We are particularly encouraged by groups that can peg out survey grids before we get there and by groups that have got adequate maps or plans for us to plot the results on. Due to travel & insurance costs we will often ask for a donation to cover those expenses.

As the icing on the cake it's nice to be fed and watered and have good weather!

We will survey the site, or part of it if it's big, by resistivity and/or magnetometry, process the results and provide you with an image which shows what has been detected. Depending on maps or plans availability we can also provide that image on a map overlay. We will talk to you about what we think has been found but in many cases this will not be clear cut and will depend to a large extent on the historical knowledge you have about the site. We will also encourage you to write a report to give to the local Historic Environment Record to maintain a record of your site for the future.