The Wychbold Dig

On the 12th October 2008 a group of WYAC members excavated 3 test pits in a field just to the east of Wychbold Village (near Droitwich). The test pits were positioned over 3 features identified in a geophysical survey carried out by the Dodderhill Research Group last year. The field was thought to have potential for archaeology due to the earthworks that can still be seen. There is a large hollow way and a number of interesting lumps and bumps. The geophysical survey confirmed the presence of some interesting features and it was decided that an excavation would be worthwhile.

The test pits were positioned over a curvilinear feature in the north of the field (TP1), a ditch slightly further south that still survives as an earthwork (TP2) and a small anomaly towards the centre of the field that was roughly 1m in diameter (TP3).

Test pit 1 This test pit produced a number of sherds of medieval pottery in the topsoil. Below this was a narrow vertical sided feature cut into the natural. This feature was interpreted as a drain, possibly medieval, possibly an 18th century brush drain.

Test pit 2 This test pit was excavated across an infilled ditch, which still survived as a shallow gulley running east to west across the field. A section across the ditch was fully excavated. It was around 0.8m deep and appeared to be an old field boundary. The ditch produced a significant amount of medieval pottery.

Test pit 3 This test pit produced a lot of medieval pottery and ceramic roof tiles, but no features.

The topsoil in all three pits was around 0.2m deep followed by a layer of subsoil c0.15m, then natural or features cut into natural. All three produced a significant amount of medieval pottery suggesting that there is settlement in the vicinity. Crucially none of the test pits contained any later pottery, suggesting that this field has been under pasture for a very long time. This suggests that any archaeological remains here could be very well preserved.

The WYACs excavated the test pits themselves. They then photographed them and those that finished digging early enough recorded the features exactly as a professional archaeologist would have done. These records along with the finds will form the main site archive.