Inside the Museum of London

Liz Goodman, Conservator:

Earlier this year I was asked to conserve three lead bale seals from Tasmania, Australia by Dr Eleanor Casella from Manchester University, UK.  I always enjoy working on finds from different clients as some of the stories associated with the objects can be very different to the objects we normally work on.  This was an extreme case with the seals excavated from the Ross Female Factory penal colony.

When excavated, the lead bale seals were covered in an obscuring layer of corrosion, so only some of the detail was visible.  It was hoped that the seals could be cleaned and prepared for display back in Tasmania.  The conservation process involved mechanically removing some of the corrosion under a microscope and then removing the remaining corrosion through an electrochemical process.

Through the conservation process, I was able to reveal the stamp of the Royal Army Ordnance Corp who provisioned the Ross Female Factory penal colony for the British Empire.  This has enabled Dr Cassella to discover much more about how the penal colony operated.  You can read more about her findings on the Bioscience Technology website: http://t.co/cL2mQqy.

Rachel is currently working on site at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, West Smithfield.

Currently I’m employed as an archaeologist for Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA). I’ve recently moved from excavations at Three Quays House beside the Tower of London to work at the Barts site. The excavations which are taking place here at Barts are very different from those at Three Quays. This is the nature of archaeological sites and one of the main reasons I enjoy my job so much! No one site or excavation is the same. An archaeological site such as Barts can reveal occupation spanning from the first Roman settlers right through to the post-medieval period. A number of different type of archaeological features such as defense ditches may be identified and a variety of artefacts discovered. Each day brings something new!

My working day begins at 0630. I’m on the tube by 0710 and usually arrive at the site by 0740. This gives me time to change into my PPE and have a drink in the canteen before making my way onto site to the MOLA trench by 0800. The tent is a luxury to us all. Very rarely do we encounter a site where we have shelter from the elements, let alone a sliding roof! With the recent bad June weather it’s a pleasure to excavate in dry conditions.

Each day my tasks on site differ. My day is usually governed by what job I have done the evening before and what job may need to be finished in order to complete the archaeological record before I can move on and begin the process with another feature. So far on site we have uncovered the defensive ditch for the City of London, (dating from the Roman through to the late medieval period, that is about AD 200 to 1500); two post-medieval wells; a 19th Century brick drain; a possible cesspit (that’s a nice word for ‘ancient toilet’!); and other important archaeological features.

Archaeology by its nature is a destructive process. When we excavate a feature, it is lost forever, therefore it is important that we make a thorough record from the pre-excavation, through the mid-excavation to the post-excavation phase. Each archaeological feature is significant, be it a 2nd Century Roman ditch or a 19th Century brick drain. The last few days I have spent recording and excavating a post-medieval well. This has involved troweling back the area to clean away the excess soil and reveal the brickwork. Then the area is photographed and a plan is drawn. Planning is an important part of our job as it provides the most accurate record. Each archaeological deposit is recorded separately. Once the plan is finished it is important to take level readings for the feature. Everything we record is related to the Ordnance Survey national grid and Ordnance datum (for height above sea level).

This is followed by some manual labour, excavating the feature. We excavate ‘stratigraphically’ removing the latest deposit fi rst and peeling our way back through time. Mattocks, shovels and trowels are used. We bag and label all artefacts according to the deposit in which they are found. Often we will sample the soil for environmental fi nds – flora (seeds and plants) and fauna (animal bone) as this gives us an indication of the habitat and diet of the period. Hand in hand with the process of digging is writing out the record sheets for every deposit – be it soil, stone or timber. It is important we give an accurate description of the colour and composition for each deposit with measurements of the deposit and any artefacts or environmental finds within it. Levels are taken for each deposit. Sometimes when we are unsure of the depth of a feature, such as a well or a ditch we will use a hand auger to help us establish the bottom.

We have reached the depth of 1.2m with our well and must now wait for the trench to be stepped down in order to finish our excavations. So far we have a wealth of artefacts from the well which include full and fragmented porcelain tobacco pipes; fragments of pottery; whole and partial glass bottles; metal and a large assemblage of animal bone. When we have reached the bottom of our well we will finish our written record sheets, take post-excavation photographs and draw a post-excavation plan of our well with the final level readings. All this information will later be used for constructing the picture of the occupation of St. Barts. The day finishes at 1700.

We have an hour and a half break throughout the day which is well deserved! I usually arrive home by 1800.

Read more about MOLA’s work at Barts Hospital on the MOLA website.

Beliz Tecirli, Assistant Contract Manager, Museum of London Archaeology

Assistant Contract Manager Louise Davies and I attended the 2011 Institute for Archaeologists Annual Conference on 14 and 15 April. The conference was held at the University of Reading which was a good reason not only to get out of the office and stretch our legs, but also to leave London for a little and venture into a different city.

We arrived in Reading and were greeted by our fellow Contract Manager, Stewart Hoad, who had arrived earlier and had already begun networking with old archaeology friends. After a quick meal at a local pub, we continued to the conference welcome event: a hot buffet and ale tasting. This was a great opportunity not only to sample the local ale, but also to network with the other conference delegates from all over the United Kingdom. It was a chance to hear about the newest discoveries and methods of practice within British Archaeology and to share how we’ve contributed through our own projects.

After a very late and crowded evening of archaeology chatter, early the next morning we made our way to the University of Reading for our first conference discussion session – Widening the audience for community archaeology: the significance of Planning Policy Statement 5.

Beliz and Louise at the IfA Conference

Planning Policy Statement 5 sets out the Government’s planning policies on the conservation of the historic environment; public engagement is promoted within this policy based on the understanding that the discoveries produced by archaeological investigations are of interest and value to local communities, special-interest groups, schools, and others. Such discoveries may contribute to a deeper sense of place and identity amongst communities. Louise, Stewart and I were very keen to learn from the presented case studies in which the discovery of new understanding about a locality’s history has engaged local communities in collaborative and meaningful ways.

The presentations included community archaeology projects in unexpected places, such as council estates in Surrey and on the East Kent Access Road.  Each case study inspired us to focus similar efforts on our current projects, so that we are constantly widening our audience and finding ever more diverse ways to share our knowledge of the past, and partnering with communities in finding out about their local heritage.

In the afternoon, I parted ways with Louise and Stewart, as we were attending different workshops. I was interested in knowing more about planning law and practice in England and its relationship to the historic environment, whereas Louise and Stewart were intrigued by the presentations on Highlights in British Archaeology. When we reunited for a final drink, we discussed our newfound knowledge in planning and British Archaeology and concluded that this enjoyable trip to Reading was very beneficial not only for ourselves as archaeologists and the projects we manage, but also for our colleagues with whom we hope to share our experience.

Beliz Tecirli, Assistant Contract Manager at Museum of London Archaeology, talks about the recent site visits for schools and local residents which she helped to organise at Crossrail’s Stepney Green site.

Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA), together with Crossrail, hosted a series of site visits for schools and other local residents to view the important archaeological work taking place at our Stepney Green site before construction begins to build a ventilation shaft for the Crossrail tunnels. The aim of these visits was to engage the local community in the history of their local area and to promote the archaeology and the modern development (by Crossrail) currently taking place.

The school visits, which ran between 25th and 28th January, welcomed pupils from six nearby schools. Pupils enjoyed a ‘dig box’ activity with our archaeologists Heather Knight, Sam Pfizenmaier, Tom Hoyle and Victoria Stanfield, where they dug the remains of Roman and medieval structures and worked out what they had found and how to record it. The digging was followed by a site tour led by David Sankey, Senior Archaeologist responsible for the site investigations.

The children were kitted up in Personal Protective Equipment just like archaeologists, and toured the site with Dave, who showed them what the archaeologists had found so far, and explained the significance of Stepney Green in the larger national history. The tour included the remains of a courtyard house built in the late 1400s or early 1500s. Amongst them are the foundations of King John’s Tower, a defended gatehouse of a type built during the Wars of the Roses, which remained standing on site until the 19th century (lending its name to King John Street).

Parliament confiscated the house from the Catholic 1st Marquess of Worcester because he funded Charles I during the Civil War. At least parts of it were occupied by Nonconformist Protestant ministers in the later 17th century, and the remains of a Congregational Church (still standing) descend from their meeting house. By degrees, the main house was converted to a Baptist College, and parts of the college’s chapel still stand.

On the Saturday following the school visits, the site tours were enjoyed by members of the public. St Dunstan’s Church, located close to the site, kindly offered their hall space for an exhibition of finds from the site. Our archaeologist, Victoria, greeted visitors dressed in 17th-century costume, and was there along with other MOLA staff – Elaine Eastbury, Mike Tetreau and Amy Chambers – to answer questions regarding the history of the objects on display.

Public participation is very important for us at MOLA, and opportunities like this give us the chance to share our findings with local communities. Our site visits received great reviews in the Metro, on ITV London and in the East London Advertiser.

- Beliz Tecirli, event organiser