Day 9 brings well-deserved ice lollies!

Holly M and Jack D report from trench 4...

Holly M: Today we have carried on excavating the ditch and have been looking for the gulley for the Roman road as well as looking for the cut of the ditch. We also spent the morning interacting with various spectators, all with an interest in what we were looking for and whether we had found any ‘treasure’ 😂. It had been a long day in the sun and it was a nice end to the day when we were surprised with ice lollies to help us cool off after a hard day’s work.

Hard work in the sun!

Jack D: Today the weather was boiling even before we arrived on site, and we had to put sun-cream on before anything started to prevent sunburn. Our group began the day bailing out one of the pits alongside the ditch we have been excavating as it had once again filled with groundwater, which wasn't too bad as there was less than previous days. Once the water was all but bucketed out, we began to take down the baulk section between the sections through the ditch and discern the differing contexts it was filled with. This turned up further finds of Roman construction materials such as brick and roofing tiles, along with animal bones and teeth.

During our dinner break in the Pavilion, some visitors brought a large husky-type dog with them and we loved it. Later on, after taking down the section some more we were struggling with the sun being so intense, but we were treated by a site visit from Amy who kindly brought us all an ice lolly each, which was greatly appreciated on such a hot day.

Much needed iced refreshment!

Jake and James report from trench 8...

Jake: On another very very hot day in trench 8 team B continued the hard work from Tuesday trowelling back potential wall features. As the warm weather continued so did Dave's constant musical complaints – he’s always asking why the classics aren't on the playlist. As Wednesday afternoon is team B's half day [for study remember! Ed.] we were able to cool down in our homes in the afternoon treating our sunburn from the start of the week.

James: Being one of the hottest days of the year, team A was careful to put on plenty of sun cream before getting to work removing the last sections of backfill and trowelling aspects of a medieval wall. A range of finds emerged from the baked soil, such as animal bone, oyster shells, Medieval and Roman pottery sherds and clumps of iron. Overall the day was tough but very rewarding. Team A enjoyed tucking into a well-earned ice lolly before leaving the trench for the day. Now with the backfill finally gone, we can begin to explore our discovered features much more thoroughly, and we are looking forward to it!

Cheers! Ice lollies go down well at the end of a hot day.