In April 2022, 20 test pits were excavated across Wichenford village, to the north west of Worcester, as part of the Small Pits, Big Ideas project. Quite a lot is known about the history of the village through documents we hold in the archives at The Hive, but what material evidence of medieval occupation could we find? Summary of Wichenford’s test pits, showing the earliest settlement activity found and a selection of finds (created by Rob Hedge) What is this all about? This community excavation was part of a wider project – Small Pits, Big Ideas – researching rural medieval se ..read more

Unexplored earthworks that look suspiciously medieval: an exciting start for any excavation! During October 2021, 8 test pits were excavated across the village of White Ladies Aston, just east of Worcester, as part of the Small Pits, Big Ideas project. These, when combined with previous community test pits in the village, reveal a story of medieval division and decline. Summary of White Ladies Aston’s test pits, showing the earliest settlement activity found and a selection of finds (created by Rob Hedge) What is this all about? This community excavation was part of a wider project –  ..read more

In June 2022, 15 test pits were excavated across Wolverley, Worcestershire. This community excavation was part of a wider project – Small Pits, Big Ideas – researching rural medieval settlements across the county.  Together, these test pits tell a broader story of the village over time. Today our household rubbish is taken away regularly, but in the past rubbish was often thrown out the back of houses. This wasn’t just food waste, but broken pots, bits of building rubble and anything else that was old or broken. Back gardens are therefore an ideal place to look for clues. Pottery can be e ..read more

In autumn 2021, 13 test pits were excavated across Holt End village in Beoley, Worcestershire. This community excavation was part of a wider project – Small Pits, Big Ideas – researching rural medieval settlements across the county. Together, these test pits tell a broader story of the village over time. Today our household rubbish is taken away regularly, but in the past rubbish was often thrown out the back of houses. This wasn’t just food waste, but broken pots, bits of building rubble and anything else that was old or broken. Back gardens are therefore an ideal place to look for clues. Pot ..read more

Souvenir Postcard showing Adam Lindsay Gordon’s Cottage Botanical Gardens, Ballarat, Victoria A set of letters, programmes and postcards amongst items being catalogued in our Library Pamphlets collection (which came from Worcestershire History Centre before the service moved to The Hive in 2012) reveals that important local photographer A.J. Woodley (a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society) had a particular interest in the celebrated 19th century poet Adam Lindsay Gordon who has some links with Worcester. Adam Lindsay Gordon is regarded by some as the founding father of “Australian poetry ..read more

Back in the hot weather of July 2022, with its parched brown crunchy grass, one of our Project Officers undertook a photogrammetric drone survey within the ground of Hartlebury Castle, with the kind permission of Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust. There were no particular expectations for this, beyond that parched grass can be ideal for showing cropmarks – and sometimes just having a look can really pay off. Hartlebury Castle in July 2022 Cropmarks can occur where past features have been dug into the ground and backfilled with material that retains moisture better than the surrounding geo ..read more

Gathering data for archaeological purposes has traditionally involved string lines, measuring tapes and pencils. This blog explores a digital technique that is now widely used within archaeological practice: photogrammetry. To best illustrate its uses, we will focus on Hartlebury Castle as a case study. Hartlebury Castle looking north-west Photogrammetry: what, how and when? So first, what is photogrammetry? It has been defined as “the art, science and technology of obtaining reliable information about physical objects and the environment, through the process of recording, measuring and inte ..read more

If a time traveler in the Vale of Evesham were to go back 100 years or more, he/she could be forgiven for thinking that they had landed in another country. Many areas had their own dialect but that belonging to the Vale seems to have almost died out and could perhaps even be described as a foreign language.   List of verbs taken from the papers of Frances E. Bomford at Finding No: 899:276 BA13866 Frances E. Bomford, writing in the early twentieth century, seems to have realised what was happening and set out to record the phrases, sayings, nouns and adjectives that people of the Lenches ..read more

The first evidence of printing in Worcester after the lapse of the Printing Act in 1695 coincides with the emergence of the first known Worcester newspaper. Valentine Green claims that a newspaper was published on an occasional basis after the Glorious Revolution and John Chambers gives an unverified date of 1690. However, there is no physical evidence of a newspaper printed in Worcester until the arrival of Stephen Bryan. It is not known exactly why or what date he came to  Worcester and set up his printing office, but he did not finish his apprenticeship with the Stationers’ Company unt ..read more

Disability can be hard to find in an archive. Not least because Disability Studies is a relatively new discipline, and while some documented disability in their records, many did not. That being said, disability hospital and mental health records are a strength of the collection here at Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service; details of a significant number of people in Worcestershire who lived with some kind of mental impairment. Bear in mind, however, that many of the terms used in these historical records are now considered offensive – and rightly so. Mental Deficiency Act Com ..read more