Bring in the Experts!

On October 18th  Dr Gerry McDonnell of Gerry McDonnell Archaeometals and Dr John Gater of GSB Prospection Ltd and Time Team came to the bloomery site to do a do a magnetometry survey.  Read what happened here:
https://sites.google.com/site/archaeologygroup/home/sabden-fold-bloomery/0-bring-in-the-experts

10 Sunday 9th May - Closing Down the Site

We closed down the site today.  Many thanks to Christine and Janet for running a successful excavation and all those who excavated and assisted in various ways.  Special thanks go to Trevor, the farmer, who helped out all week and showed great interest.  His tractor made light work of the heavy jobs.  Here is the record of the day.
http://sites.google.com/site/archaeologygroup/home/sabden-fold-bloomery/10-sunday-9th-may---closing-down-the-site

9 Saturday 8th May - Finishing Off & Viewing Lower Houses

We are now winding up the dig with only one day left.  We tidied up the trenches, recorded them and backfilled all except trench 3.  As an added bonus, we had a good look around the adjacent C16 farm of Lower Houses.  The day's report is here,
http://sites.google.com/site/archaeologygroup/home/sabden-fold-bloomery/9-saturday-8th-may---finishing-off

8 Friday 7th May - Extending Trench 3

As we head towards the close of the excavation, we have been concentrating on consolidating the evidence of our 5 trenches which focus on the slope that runs down to the steam.  A clear pattern of remains is emerging which suggests the site may be more extensive than originally thought.  The day's report can be found here, http://www.archaeologygroup.org.uk/home/sabden-fold-bloomery/8-friday-7th-may---extending-trench-3
Time Team excavated a couple of bloomery/blast furnace sites at Oakamoor in Staffordshire.  Their excavation is directly relevant to what we are finding.  See, http://www.channel4.com/programmes/time-team/4od#2933995
David M.

7 Thursday 6th May - Rain

Rain stopped play, at least in the morning.
The day's report is here,
https://sites.google.com/site/archaeologygroup/home/sabden-fold-bloomery/7-thursday-6th-may---rain

6 Wednesday 5th May - Trench 5 Opened & Slag Excavated from Trench 3

Good turnout and good progress!  While we are clearly excavating an area used for smelting iron, we are struggling to interpret what we see.  The excavation is widening in search of answers.  If you can interpret what we are finding, we should welcome your comments on these posts or by email to archaeologygroup@googlemail.com
The report for Wednesday is here.
http://sites.google.com/site/archaeologygroup/home/sabden-fold-bloomery/6-wednesday-5th-may---trench-5-opened
We are so enjoying the word "slag"!

5 Tuesday 4th May - No Easy Answers

No break through or new ideas today, just steady progress in excavating and recording our two trenches.  The report is here,
http://sites.google.com/site/archaeologygroup/home/sabden-fold-bloomery/5-tuesday-4th-may---no-easy-answers

4 Monday 3rd May - Extending Trenches 3 and 4

Excavation went well today and we may have found the remains of three furnaces, though interpretation is currently difficult.  We are just starting to get "our eye in" on the archaeology and hope to make more sense of it as the week unfolds.  See the day's report here,
http://www.archaeologygroup.org.uk/home/sabden-fold-bloomery/3-monday-3rd-may---extending-trenches-3-and-4
David M.

Sunday 2nd May - Iron Smelting Established

The excavations today seem to confirm that the site was indeed used for for smelting iron.  Read the update on our website here,
http://www.archaeologygroup.org.uk/home/sabden-fold-bloomery/saturday-2nd-may---iron-smelting-established
Blast Furnace or Bloomery?
Broadly speaking, a blast furnace can be distinguished from a bloomery in that the object of a blast furnace is to produce molten pig iron that runs out at the bottom of the furnace .  In a bloomery the temperature is not hot enough to melt the impure iron "blooms" which are subsequently hammered to remove the impurities and create "wrought" iron.  A bloomery is normally fuelled by charcoal while a blast furnace in modern times is generally fuelled by coke or anthracite.  Abraham Darby was famous for introducing coke in 1709 at Coalbrookdale while George Crane used anthracite in 1837 in the Ynyscedwyn ironworks in South Wales.
The pieces melted iron and the fragments of anthracite we have found at Sabden Fold suggest we have a blast furnace rather than a bloomery.
David M.

Saturday 1st May - Excavation Day 1

This is what we got up to on Saturday, what might be called "steady progress".
http://sites.google.com/site/archaeologygroup/home/sabden-fold-bloomery/1st-may---excavation-day-1
However, we have some thinking to do for what we do on Day 2.

Follow the Sabden Fold Bloomery Excavation

The bloomery excavation is taking place each day of the first week of May.  We set out the site grid last Saturday see http://sites.google.com/site/archaeologygroup/home/sabden-fold-bloomery/laying-out-the-bloomery-site

What is an Archaeological Excavation?

Here is what Wikipedia says .... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excavation_(archaeology)

Happy Birthday Kenneth!

24th April - Janet had to leave the Sabden Fold bloomery site  early as she was secretly plotting a birthday party for Kenneth.  So happy birthday Kenneth from all of us and hope the party went well!

Bloomery in Sabden Fold

Today we set out our planned excavation of a suspected bloomery (iron smelting site) at Sabden Fold, Goldshaw Booth, near Padiham, Lancashire.  We laid out a grid and undertook a levelling survey.  We start excavating 10.15am next Saturday, 1st May.  Why not come along?

See the web site http://sites.google.com/site/archaeologygroup/home/sabden-fold-bloomery/laying-out-the-bloomery-site for details.

Setting Up

We are just setting up!