Ivan Clowsley

Corfe Castle

What a fabulous location for a dig but I almost didn’t make it. I’d been ill and was still taking lots of med’s I don’t know how I did it but five hours after leaving home, I made it to the Isle of Purbeck. Some of the team were camping and good luck to them, the weather forecast was mixed to say the least.

I drove over to the site and as I was getting closer a wonderful site appeared through the trees a scene from a fairy tale, on a little hill was Corfe Castle it was truly breath taking. I parked up and had a walk around the main area of activity greeting old friends as I went. I’ve done a few of these digs now but with all the tents and the marquees and the geo dome it looked like a music festival. We all ate together had a beer and a catch up then the softies, me included, went back to the hotel. I’m far too old for camping now. We met some of the competition winners who’d flown in all the way from Canada it was lovely to meet them.

Day 1

The call sheet ( the crews instruction sheet) said we needed to be on site for 8 am so an early start for everyone. It was a misty old start to the day you couldn’t see the castle at all. I’d made it on site on time and met up with Hilde who I’d be digging with we had been assigned Trench 2. Our mission, to find a Round House, or at least that’s what John’s Geo Phy’s suggested. Day 1 can often get off to a slow start and with only one working digger we had to wait around until after lunch to get started. In the mean time I went to see Naomi and helped her set up her flotation tank.

Naomi and I with all her flotation gear!

Jon Beaver the digger driver eventually put our trench in so we cracked on. He’s a cheeky chappie Jon and is always taking covert photos of me leaning on my shovel implying I don’t do any work! We could see straight away there was a large ditch at the Eastern end of the trench and as we progressed more ditches appeared. The mist had cleared and the sun was beating down it was hot work. Some archaeology students from Bournemouth University helped us thankfully, as it was a big trench for 2 people to dig. We started to get bits of pot out, a sherd of a posh Roman flagon first century (imported) and a bit of late Iron Age/ early Romano British black burnished ware, identified by Rachael. Great dating evidence just what we were looking for. So a productive first day after a slow start. Friday night was hog roast night and it was lovely, we had a few words from Tim to celebrate 30 years of Time Team and the impressive cake was cut. It was quite emotional but as the proceedings were filmed I had to eat while being filmed never very flattering and in one of the official photos released you can plainly see me wolfing chips down my neck, oh dear!

Day 2

Another early start but we could crack straight on. The weather was a little cloudy and cooler and with the dew the features were more clearly defined excellent conditions for Adam to fly his drone over our trench to do his photogrammetry. We were getting out more finds including pieces of worked flint which added another dimension to our finds tray. We were also working on what we thought could possibly be a kiln and an area of burning became visible. There was lots going on in this trench. Dani and camera crew came to visit and we did an interview for Dig Watch which was fun. Hilde was happy with our progress but we hadn’t got clear evidence of a round house. What would tomorrow bring? Back to the hotel for a shower and a pint. The campers were having a sing song I’d have to settle for a beer and hearing Time Team stories from Stewart and some of the long standing camera crew. It’s a hard life!

The worked flint takes the habitation of the site further back to prehistoric times.

Day 3

It started well but mid morning the heavens opened, thunder and lightning too so we had no option but to adjourn to the safety of the marquee. Boy did it chuck it down, I was soaked. Pete Spencer started going through the, ‘not so exciting’, metal detectorist’s finds. Which we started to lay out on the table, I did all the buttons. Pete did the ordnance ( the bullets). This area had a lot of WW II activity so that was reflected in the bullets found. We had lunch and then thankfully the storm moved away and we could resume.

Ordnance found by the detectorists, mainly WWII.

The first task was clearing away the large puddles that had appeared in the trench, I also got help from competition winners Daniel and Marvin all the way from Louisiana. A grey silt had appeared under the water and soil had washed in to the trench, more cleaning with hoes and trowels, unwanted work but necessary. The break through for us was when Adam’s photo grammetry was handed to us. Proof that we had indeed found a round house plain for all to see. I put in a slot to prove one of the ditches was a drip trench from the round house and it was. I’m glad Hilde was there to finish off I was so tired I couldn’t dig anymore.
It’s the most tired I’ve felt after a dig I think. We succeeded in our quest to find a Round House though so happy days. Derek and Lawrence came over to film the closing sequence for our trench and finally at 7 O’clock after a long walk over the fields I could finally get my evening meal. What a long day. I only had to navigate a slopping, muddy field now to get back to my hotel in my non 4 wheel drive car! After a few drinkies it was bed time, I was absolutely knackered, the end of another superb Time Team dig!

Dani filming in the rain!

The very big trench Hilde and I dug with a little bit of help from our friends.