Category: Mosaic (Page 2 of 2)

Following generous donations from individuals and organisations for this year’s dig at Mud Hole our funding total now stands at over £46,500 – ever closer to full funding. We have just received notification that the Greenham Trust has awarded the project a Reactive Grant of £1,000 and ASPROM the Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics have awarded their maximum grant of £500. Updated funding information is available on the Boxford Mosaic page of the Good Exchange. 
https://app.thegoodexchange.com/project/12262/boxford-history-project/the-wondrous-boxford-mosaic

We are advised by the land agent that our most likely start date is during the week of 19th August but as always it’s weather and harvest dependent. We are still hoping to be excavating for 3 weeks followed by a week of recording but it all depends on full funding.

Volunteers have been coming forward and in some numbers. It looks like we will be oversubscribed which is great but we will have to regulate numbers on the site each day. So if you would like to join us for the dig, please complete and return a volunteer contact form asap even if you have been on Boxford digs in the past, or if you prefer email: boxfordhistoryproject@gmail.com

Many thanks to many of you who have been helping in so many ways.

Joy

Photo courtesy Richard Miller

This remarkable image is part of the amazing Roman mosaic found last summer in the parish of Boxford, West Berkshire. The mosaic has been examined by experts and described as the most important Roman mosaic find in Great Britain for the last 50 years. It received widespread national and international coverage when it was discovered in 2017.

The  project to fully uncover the mosaic will be led by  the Boxford History Project (BHP) using a volunteer workforce from the local community, with valiant assistance from archaeology groups most notably from the Berkshire Archaeology Research Group (BARG) and all overseen by professionals from Cotswold Archaeology. As usual on an agricultural site, we have to wait until harvest is finished and we have been informed that we may be able to start the 3rd week of August depending on the weather.

If fully funded we plan to work for 3 weeks uncovering the Boxford mosaic, the bath suite and the floor plan of the villa. A fourth week will be spent recording the mosaic in minute detail as it will be covered again at the end of the dig for its own protection. We are looking for volunteers to help with this unique project – you don’t need previous experience,  just enthusiasm and genuine interest…..and an ability to smile through all weathers! There are a variety of tasks for volunteers – don’t worry, topsoil is removed from the site by a JCB but thereafter it’s hand digging and looking out for finds; finds then have to be washed, sorted, weighed, photographed and catalogued.   So please get in touch  if you would like to volunteer by emailing: boxfordhistoryproject@gmail.com

Over £38,000.00 of the £60,000 needed has been raised so far! Greenham Common Trust has offered to match fund pound for pound, donations up to £5000 through The Good Exchange funding platform . More detailed information about the project and fundraising can be found on the Good Exchange website https://app.thegoodexchange.com/project/12262/boxford-history-project/the-wondrous-boxford-mosaic……………………and you can also make a donation if you wish – it’s really easy………….and don’t forget Greenham Common Trust will double it! Grateful thanks to those who have already made a donation.