Digging Deep- the 3rd Annual SHG Dig
11 hardend souls took to the task of uncovering an 18th Century farmstead in the usual blustery conditions.

From Tuesday 21st to Thursday 23rd November Hugh Hannaford, community archaeologist for Shropshire County Council demonstrated and taught those present how to use a theodolite and undertake a detailed survey of the Gittens Farm Site in Sheinton. Although today the site is just a green field on the John Rocque map of 1747 it was shown as a farm occupied by Samuel Gittens. Using his computer skills Trevor Hill had overlaid the outline of the farm and its buildings from that map on to a later ordnance survey map thus indicating the layout of the site.

Over these three days some eleven members of Sheinton Heritage Group and four other volunteers surveyed the site from which a detail plan of it is being created. The survey showed that features in the landscape such as earlier hedge-lines, roadways and a house platform could be identified. The survey also covered the outflow leat of the Sheinton Forge which was located in a nearby field, and crossed the road and joined the Sheinton Brook on the Gittens Farm site. Some interesting stonework was discovered although as yet not excavated.

Following the survey, five days of excavation were undertaken which involved fifteen members of the group and fourteen other volunteers. A range of trenches were opened in the hope of discovering the foundations of the farmhouse but without any positive signs. It is assumed therefore that the building was timber-framed and left no clear imprint on the site apart from some building debris, including tiles, found in one trench. However parts of a cobbled yard and a boundary wall were revealed. An impressive collection of finds with pottery spanning from the medieval period to the 18th century was unearthed indicating that the site has a long history as a farmstead.

It is hoped to open further trenches across the out-flow leat in the Spring of 2007.