Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project

Last updated

The Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project (SHARP) is a long-term, multidisciplinary research project based in north-west Norfolk, United Kingdom. It is involved in the investigation of the local history and archaeology, with a strong emphasis on community involvement, practical training and education. The Project attracts volunteer excavators and students from all over the world.

Contents

History

An Anglo-Saxon skeleton excavated by SHARP Skelesmall.jpg
An Anglo-Saxon skeleton excavated by SHARP

In 1957–58, Peter Jewell of the University of Cambridge excavated small trenches on the "Boneyard Field" and recorded a number of human burials and features. [1]

In 1995, a conversation in the Europa Hotel in Sorrento between Neil Faulkner, then still a research student at University College London, and the landowners of the Sedgeford Hall Estate, Bernard and Susan Campbell, about his desire to direct an excavation, leading to the Campbells mentioning the archaeological richness of Boneyard. [2] [3]

SHARP was founded in 1996, initially focussing on the same Anglo-Saxon cemetery located to the south of the modern village of Sedgeford. [3] Since that time, SHARP has investigated many other sites within the parish using a variety of methods: open-area excavation, test-pitting, geophysical survey, fieldwalking and metal detection, and the analysis of historical documents.

Organization

SHARP is made up of a team of directors, supervisors, trustees and committee members, along with a number of excavators and other volunteers during June-August. From 1997, the project has served as a model for Faulkner's "Democratic Archaeology" in rejecting traditional hierarchies, though is still broadly a community archaeology project. [3]

Education

The Project is one of the largest training digs in the UK, providing practical training in excavation and recording as well as running taught courses on aspects of the site: e.g. skeletal remains, artefacts, and Anglo-Saxon history. However, unlike most training sites, it is independent from any one academic institution and operates as a registered UK charity (number 1064553).

Projects

Apart from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery, fieldwork has also been conducted on Iron Age, Roman, medieval and modern remains in the Sedgeford parish, with the West Hall area receiving considerable attention as the historic centre of the modern village. Excavations, including test pits in a number of gardens, have taken place throughout the village. [4] Work has also been done on the First World War Aerodrome. [5] [6]

Sites and finds of interest

One of the "Boneyard" open-area excavations BYDNTsmall.jpg
One of the "Boneyard" open-area excavations

Over the years a number of particularly unusual discoveries have been made: [5]

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sedgeford</span> Village in the English county of Norfolk

Sedgeford is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, about 5 miles south of the North Sea and 3 miles (4.8 km) east of the Wash. It is 36 miles north-west of Norwich. Its area of 6.6 square miles (17 km2) had a population, including Fring, of 613 at the 2011 Census. It was estimated at 601 in 2019. For local-government purposes, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. It lies in a farming valley with main crops of barley, wheat and sugar beat, in a belt of chalk with the small Docking River running through.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snape Anglo-Saxon Cemetery</span> Anglo-Saxon burial site

The Snape Anglo-Saxon Cemetery is a place of burial dated to the 6th century AD located on Snape Common, near to the town of Aldeburgh in Suffolk, Eastern England. Dating to the early part of the Anglo-Saxon Era of English history, it contains a variety of different forms of burial, with inhumation and cremation burials being found in roughly equal proportions. The site is also known for the inclusion of a high status ship burial. A number of these burials were included within burial mounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snettisham Hoard</span> Iron Age treasure found in England

The Snettisham Hoard or Snettisham Treasure is a series of discoveries of Iron Age precious metal, found in the Snettisham area of the English county of Norfolk between 1948 and 1973.

Spong Hill is an Anglo-Saxon cemetery site located south of North Elmham in Norfolk, England. It is the largest known Early Anglo-Saxon cremation site. The site consists of a large cremation cemetery and a smaller, 6th century burial cemetery of 57 inhumations. Several of the inhumation graves were covered by small barrows and others were marked by the use of coffins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wasperton</span>

Wasperton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 153. It is on the east bank of the River Avon and is some 5 miles (8 km) south of the town of Warwick which is easily accessed by the A429 road. Between 1980 and 1985 extensive excavations in advance of gravel digging revealed a cemetery which contained both Roman and Anglo-Saxon graves. There were over 200 inhumations and 26 cremation burials uncovered. 116 inhumations and 24 cremations were determined to be Anglo-Saxon. 40 inhumations have been determined to be Roman, 44 inhumations could not be dated. The graves included spears, shields, knives, brooches and beads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Faulkner (archaeologist)</span> British archaeologist, historian, and political activist (c. 1957–2022)

Neil Faulkner was a British archaeologist, historian, writer, lecturer, broadcaster, and political activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staffordshire Hoard</span> Hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork discovered in 2009

The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork yet found. It consists of almost 4,600 items and metal fragments, amounting to a total of 5.1 kg (11 lb) of gold, 1.4 kg (3 lb) of silver and some 3,500 pieces of garnet cloisonné jewellery. It is described by the historian Cat Jarman as "possibly the finest collection of early medieval artefacts ever discovered".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stirling torcs</span> Archaeological find in Stirling, Scotland, UK

The Stirling torcs make up a hoard of four gold Iron Age torcs, a type of necklace, all of which date to between 300 and 100 BC and which were buried deliberately at some point in antiquity. They were found by a metal detectorist in a field near Blair Drummond, Stirlingshire, Scotland on 28 September 2009. The hoard has been described as the most significant discovery of Iron Age metalwork in Scotland and is said to be of international significance. The torcs were valued at £462,000, and after a public appeal were acquired for the National Museums of Scotland in March 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sedgeford Torc</span> Iron Age torc

The Sedgeford Torc is a broken Iron Age gold torc found near the village of Sedgeford in Norfolk. The main part of the torc was found during harrowing of a field in 1965, and the missing terminal was found by Dr. Steve Hammond during fieldwork by the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project in 2004. The torc is now displayed at the British Museum.

The archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England is the study of the archaeology of England from the 5th Century AD to the 11th Century, when it was ruled by Germanic tribes known collectively as the Anglo-Saxons.

Burial in Anglo-Saxon England refers to the grave and burial customs followed by the Anglo-Saxons between the mid 5th and 11th centuries CE in Early Mediaeval England. The variation of the practice performed by the Anglo-Saxon peoples during this period, included the use of both cremation and inhumation. There is a commonality in the burial places between the rich and poor – their resting places sit alongside one another in shared cemeteries. Both of these forms of burial were typically accompanied by grave goods, which included food, jewelry, and weaponry. The actual burials themselves, whether of cremated or inhumed remains, were placed in a variety of sites, including in cemeteries, burial mounds or, more rarely, in ship burials.

Polhill Anglo-Saxon cemetery is a place of burial that was used in the seventh and eighth centuries CE. It is located close to the hamlet of Polhill, near Sevenoaks in Kent, South-East England. Belonging to the Middle Anglo-Saxon period, it was part of the much wider tradition of burial in Early Anglo-Saxon England.

Buckland Anglo-Saxon cemetery was a place of burial. It is located on Long Hill in the town of Dover in Kent, South East England. Belonging to the Anglo-Saxon period, it was part of the much wider tradition of burial in Early Anglo-Saxon England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fordcroft Anglo-Saxon cemetery</span> History cemetery

Fordcroft Anglo-Saxon cemetery was a place of burial. It is located in the town of Orpington in South East London, South-East England. Belonging to the Middle Anglo-Saxon period, it was part of the much wider tradition of burial in Early Anglo-Saxon England. Fordcroft was a mixed inhumation and cremation ceremony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Torc from Snettisham</span> Iron Age artifact

The Great Torc from Snettisham or Snettisham Great Torc is a large Iron Age torc or neck ring in electrum, from the 1st century BC. It is one of the finest pieces of early Celtic art in a distinctly British Celtic style. It is the most spectacular object in the Snettisham Hoard of torcs and other metalwork found in 1950 near the village of Snettisham in Norfolk, East Anglia. The perfectly intact torc is outstanding for its high level of craftsmanship and superb artistry. Soon after its discovery it was acquired by the British Museum.

Cecily Margaret Guido,, also known as Peggy Piggott, was an English archaeologist, prehistorian, and finds specialist. Her career in British archaeology spanned sixty years, and she is recognised for her field methods, her field-leading research into prehistoric settlements, burial traditions, and artefact studies, as well as her high-quality and rapid publication, contributing more than 50 articles and books to her field between the 1930s and 1990s.

Ian David Meadows is a British archaeologist. He has worked in archaeology for some 40 years, including as a Senior Project Officer at Northamptonshire Archaeology from 1992 to 2014. During that time he excavated a number of large quarries in England and Wales, and excavated the boar-crested Anglo-Saxon Pioneer Helmet in addition to discovering the first definitive evidence for viticulture in Roman Britain. He has also worked for the Museum of London Archaeology, and has taught archaeology and landscape history for Cambridge University, Anglia Ruskin University, the University of Bath, and the Workers' Educational Association.

Naomi Payne is an archaeologist and small finds specialist, with a particular interest in Roman material culture. She was awarded her PhD at the University of Bristol in 2003 with a thesis titled: "The medieval residences of the Bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury". She is a research associate at the University of Exeter and was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London on 25 March 2021.

References

  1. Jewell, P.A.; Wade, K.; Clutton-Brock, J. (1958). "The Excavation of a MIddle Saxon Occupation Site and Burial Ground at Sedgeford, Norfolk". Unpublished Report, SHARP Archives.
  2. Campbell, Bernard (2014). "Foreword". In Faulkner, Neil; Robinson, Keith; Rossin, Gary (eds.). Digging Sedgeford: A People's Archaeology. Poppyland Publishing. pp. viii. ISBN   978-1909796089.
  3. 1 2 3 Faulkner, Neil (2014). "Foreword". In Faulkner, Neil; Robinson, Keith; Rossin, Gary (eds.). Digging Sedgeford: A People's Archaeology. Poppyland Publishing. pp. ix–xiv. ISBN   978-1909796089.
  4. SHARP Team (2014). "Introduction". In Faulkner, Neil; Robinson, Keith; Rossin, Gary (eds.). Digging Sedgeford: A People's Archaeology. Poppyland Publishing. pp. 1–8. ISBN   978-1909796089.
  5. 1 2 "Our Research". www.sharp.org.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  6. Rossin, Gary (2018). Sedgeford Aerodrome and the aerial conflict over North West Norfolk during the First World War. Poppyland Publishing. ISBN   978-1909796423.
  7. Cross, Pamela J. (2011). "Horse Burial in First Millennium AD Britain: Issues of Interpretation". European Journal of Archaeology. 14 (1): 190–209. doi:10.1179/146195711798369409. S2CID   162327897.