Strangely quiet today. Work has started on the recording of the villa. But one thing the BHP wanted to record was a very BIG THANK YOU to our visitors to the Open Day last Saturday. We did not charge an entrance fee but asked for a donation ………. which we have been counting ever since and the Grand Total is £4,500!!! How wonderfully generous of them – so thank you again visitors and we are so pleased you enjoyed it that much. It will help to fund the conservation of finds – particularly metalwork.
There’s nobody there! We are closed in spite of what it says in the Daily Telegraph
Stunned and thrilled in equal measure at the one and only Open Day yesterday. Stunned that as many as 3000 people came and thrilled to bits that there was that much interest in Boxford’s Mosaic.
Pictures below are trench 2 – The Mosaic trench – if you can see it!
Anthony Beeson “interpreter extraordinaire” of the figures on the mosaic
And Alice Jones who continued whilst Anthony had his lunch!
Matt Nichol describing the villa itself
The Combo!
Sam describing trench 1 ………………in the sun and in the rain!
Queuing to look in the “Finds” tent – artefacts and pictures were on display
The Mosaic 6m x 5m- the walls of the room can be clearly seen. The figurative panels are surrounded by a red tesserae border
Pictures today from Richard and David
Many thanks go to the many local volunteers, BHP trustees and members and the Cotswold team who work so hard yesterday to make the Open Day such a success. Special thanks to Anthony Beeson who had many new fans amongst the audience, who found his interpretation of the mosaic story both illuminating and entertaining.
Update: Visitors to the Open Day were very generous and made many donations into the buckets provided. Because of the rain some of this got wet, so it spent the night in the airing cupboard drying out ………John Hayward has suggested this might be described as money laundering! Anyway it is not all dry yet but so far we are up to £2000 and counting!! This will go some way to funding the cost of conserving all those metal objects that the volunteers dug out of the ground! A big thank you to all our visitors. Look out for The Times and The Mail – both have asked to use the blog photos.
A hectic day of cleaning before the Open Day. We also welcomed Radio Berkshire who did a live 3 hour programme from the site! But first the team photo!
The story of the mosaic is revealed! Anthony Beeson saw the key to the puzzle when he saw a lynch pin in the mosaic. It seems that one object was the key to the discovery that the main mosaic panel was the mythical Greek story of Pelops.
Today was the story of clean, clean and clean again in preparation for the Open Day on Saturday.
How many times have you cleaned the kitchen floor with a toothbrush?
Water was an issue
Even the walls had to be cleaned straight and level
And all day a mound of soil was sifted by Mark which will eventually be used to re-cover the mosaic
Lunch was a welcome break
Tomorrow is the last day of the dig – Radio Berkshire will presenting their afternoon show live from the site between 13.00 – 16.00 Thanks to you all for your hard work which has made it all possible.
Anthony Beeson being interviewed by BBC South Today (to be screened on Friday)
Freya
Matt
Joy
Fay and Emma
Washing the floor for the first time in 1700 years
A visit to the site today by Alan Baylis and his wife Margaret. Alan and his family had farmed the Mud Hole field for many generations. It was he who pointed out the true location of the villa in the field
Some of David’s photos below of the “workers” yesterday when it was so hot.
Whilst some took a moment or two to chill!
Matt and Tina carefully extricating the metal hoard found in the wall yesterday by Alex.
At the beginning of the day Matt set the diggers a task of removing the last of the debris from the mosaic……..by the time of the morning break! It focussed minds and all heads were down and working hard.
But we did it!
Next it was down to fine brushing in preparation for several sponge downs!
In the meanwhile, Alex had found a metal stash in the mosaic room wall – who put it there? Was this at the end of the Roman era, from someone using a derelict villa to hide it, in a chaotic cashless society when bartering would have been important?
Hook or earring? Made of copper so possibly the latter.
This tool was also found but is it Roman? Possibly Victorian left by the farmer putting in the land drain.
A message across the centuries – one that we still have to decipher!
Considering it’s only day 5 (week 1) of the dig, it’s really amazing just how much has been accomplished. Thanks to all diggers, sievers, washers and recorders for all they have done over the past week – it has exceeded expectations. By the end of the day, nearly half the mosaic had been exposed – thankfully in pretty good order and the finds processing team has kept up with what has been coming out of the ground. People found themselves stopping work and gazing at what was being revealed but we will have to resist that temptation if we are going to be able display the mosaic in all its glory and to Matt’s satisfaction for the Open Day on Saturday 31st August.
The Boxford contingent
I am sure there was a wall there!
Without the sponsors we would not be here
A Telemon appears with eyes, belly button and all!
