Community archaeological conservation to explore more of Tamworth’s history

Tamworth Borough Council is excited to confirm that following the success of recent community archaeological digs, a new archaeology conservation event will take place from 9 to 13 November.

Back in October 2022 the first community dig took place by Holloway Lodge in the Castle Grounds. A small area believed to be the site of a castle mill was explored. This dig was explored again in March this year with the project, ‘Revealing Castle Mill’, taking place thanks to £9,450 funding from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and was led again by archaeologist William Mitchell, a lecturer in Archaeology at Staffordshire University.

Archaeologists will return in November to undertake cleaning and research of the 13th century Castle Gatehouse, plus laser scanning and photogrammetry of the area to see what lies beneath.

The work will help prepare this historic site for planned restoration and conservation work. Photogrammetry, the art of extracting 3D information from photographs, will aid the analysis of information generated by research, allowing an accurate portrayal of spaces and structures, to produce 3D models of the gatehouse.

Volunteers aged 16 years and over who are able to use ladders to access the area are invited to book a half or full day to support the work by emailing heritage@tamworth.gov.uk, to express an interest. 

The sessions start from 10am - 4pm. Anyone can drop in to view the site from the gatehouse bridge area. 

There is also an archaeology research session being held in Castle Square in Ankerside. This will include object scanning. People are invited to drop in any time between 10.30am - 4pm daily. Suitable for all ages. You can even meet a dinosaur on 11 and 12 November! (See the castle website for more details: www.tamworthcastle.co.uk).

The sessions will be split into daily activities starting with the gatehouse clean-up, followed by laser scanning and photogrammetry and research in Ankerside. 

The event will again be led by archaeologist William Mitchell, lecturer in Archaeology at Staffordshire University. Students will also be joining in with the laser scanning and conducting academic research.

Councillor Paul Thompson, Portfolio Holder for Town Centre and Commercial Property, said: “We had such a great response to our archaeology digs by the public, it was very exciting to find some interesting items plus part of the mill wall. 

“This new event will give people the opportunity to find out more about our rich history and also get involved with scanning objects found from our previous digs.”