Community Excavations

2015

There are opportunities for novices and experienced archaeologists to participate in 2015, but only if you book in advance.

There are opportunities for novices and experienced archaeologists to participate in 2015, but only if you book in advance.

The excavations will take place 7th to 25th September 2015 - Excluding Mondays and Tuesdays.

Full details and booking information will be publicised end April/early May 2015.

2014 - Volunteer & Community Involvement

2014 saw the sixth season of excavation at Woking Palace involving the local community, and this is the second year under the Woking Palace and its Park Project. The wider remit of the Heritage Lottery Project provided an opportunity to involve a larger number of people and to increase the range of activities.

In 2014 the following opportunities were advertised:

Dig for a Day Finds for a Day Basic Archaeology Skills Course (3 days) Experienced diggers Experienced finds team

Experienced metal detecting School sessions Group sessions Family sessions

Planning and preparation

Archaeologists from the Surrey County Archaeological Unit (SCAU), and volunteers from the Surrey Archaeological Society supported the Friends of Woking Palace. SCAU’s Community Archaeology Team (Abby Guinness and Hannah Potter) looked after all the bookings for the dig and school visits.

Pre-dig workshops were also held to introduce the topic of archaeology and the site of Woking Palace to schools and groups in the area, generally ahead of a visit to the site later in September.

For the first time there was a dedicated Woking Palace Finds Team who were able to cover all finds duties on site. The Finds Team consisted of experienced volunteers who were joined during the dig by Finds for a Day volunteers.

On-site

The excavation focused on six areas. Dig for a Day diggers and experienced diggers were divided between the trenches, joined when needed by the students on the Basic Archaeological Skills courses. The Basic Archaeological Skills course is an AQA accredited unit focusing on archaeological practise. There were three 3-day courses covering the research, surveying and digging skills needed to excavate on site.

Several school and group sessions were also held. This included six primary schools (295 pupils from 10 classes, Year 4 to Year 7), two family sessions, a home education group, Woking Brownies, Knaphill Beavers & Cubs, Council for British Archaeology South-East, Woking Archaeology U3A, and staff from the SCC Early Years Team.

Two Twilight sessions were held for youth organisations (Beavers & Brownies). On both occasions we were supported by the Surrey Wildlife Trust who provided a nature walk through the copse, and bat detectors, which helped when the light was fading!

At the end of the dig the site Open Day was held. Hoebridge School ran a mini-bus service, which proved invaluable, and 435 people attended.

The Friends of Woking Palace were the essential underpinning that allowed the whole project to happen. Members supported the project through logistics, refreshments, assisting with group visits and tours for the general projects and also organised the end of site Special Open Day.

Join Us

There are exciting year-round activities planned as part of the Woking Palace and its Park project, which will run until March 2016. The Friends of Woking Palace are actively looking for new volunteers and participants to be involved. For more information on the project contact Jean Follett, Treasurer of the Friends of Woking Palace on email info@woking-palace.org or by phone 01483 768685.

More young archaeologists!

Look what we've found!