The Heritage Lottery Fund is funding the South Humber Bank Wildlife and People Project (SHWAP).
The programme of events will allow people to explore the heritage of their area. All the events are open to anyone wishing to participate. We ask that volunteers confirm their attendance by booking, as some activities have limited places.
What was found in 2007/08?
In September 2007 and April 2008, our volunteers helped the museum to do five days fieldwalking in Alkborough, Whitton and Winteringham. At Winteringham, we walked a large field on the west side of the village. The most interesting finds were prehistoric - 365 flint tools. The earliest tools were Mesolithic (c. 6,000 BC). Among 110 scrapers there were many Bronze Age Types (c. 2000 BC). We also found a barbed and tanged arrowhead of that period. Many of these flints were clustered in one corner of the field, overlooking the Trent valley. Have we found the location of a prehistoric camp?
At Alkborough, we walked three adjoining fields. To the south, there was some good flint. Even better, one lucky fieldwalker picked up a Neolithic flint axehead (c. 4000 BC). A small scatter of Anglo-Saxon pottery was unexpected. To the north, We started to pick up Roman pottery - hundreds of pieces. We think that this is a previously unknown settlement site.
We also carried out two-day digging test pits in the Ancholme valley near Winterton. We were hoping to field evidence of prehistoric salt making in a field with some interesting earthworks. Although we did not find the evidence we were looking for, our volunteers enjoyed the chance to learn a new skill.
The heritage trail
We want to encourage more people to get involved in the area's heritage. Our part in the project is to develop a heritage trail along the south Humber bank. It will link archaeological and historic sites from Alkborough east to Barton upon Humber and beyond.
On-site information boards and leaflets will explain and interpret the remains. We will also produce education packs to encourage schools to explore their surroundings. But first we need to find out more about these sites and monuments, and perhaps discover a few more. And that's where you can help.
Archaeological surveys - taking part
Volunteers are doing a five-year programme of investigations. Guided by museum staff and professional archaeologists, each year we will focus on one of the parishes along the bank, and arrange a variety of archaeological surveys. Volunteers can attend demonstrations and training to enable them to learn the techniques we use to detect, map and understand sites.
For example, we plan to fieldwalk a number of sites where we suspect buried settlements dating from the Roman period (43AD - 410AD) are located, at Alkborough, Whitton, Winteringham, South Ferriby and Barton. Collecting, identifying and dating the pottery from the ploughsoil will provide the evidence, and this will help us to draw a picture of life on the Humber estuary in Roman times.
Geophysical surveys are planned at the sites fieldwalked by the project volunteers and at other known sites, for example the manor house site at Winteringham.
We'll need volunteers to survey and record the physical remains of the old brick and tile yards, cement works and chalk quarries that have shaped the landscape of the South Humber Bank at Barton and South Ferriby. This industrial heritage will be researched and interpreted for the wider public.
Fancy volunteering? Anyone over 12 years of age can join in and become a volunteer. If you are aged 12-16 years, you must be accompanied by an adult. We are happy to involve individuals and groups interested in heritage matters. If you would like any further information about the project please contact Alison Williams on 01724 843533, or email alison.williams@northlincs.gov.uk.
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