The dig was organised by Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) and the Museum's Community Archaeologist, with support from staff in the Museum's Department of Archaeological Collections and Archive, which includes the London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre (LAARC). The archaeological brief was designed in conjunction with English Heritage and the Friends of Arnold Circus. The work was funded by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

 

The A Foundation (external link) kindly provided equipment storage and welfare facilities for Museum of London staff at Rochelle School, just across the road from where the dig took place. The A Foundation (an arts organisation operating in London, Liverpool and online) runs a permanent arts space in the Victorian buildings that once housed Rochelle School, built in 1895 to serve the children of the Boundary Estate.

 

Children from Virginia Primary School participated in the community dig, as did groups from the St Hilda's East Community Centre (Bengali Women's Group and Bengali Boy's Group).

The aim of the community dig was to investigate what was in the mound and what the original ground surface would have been ahead of renovation work on the bandstand, organised by the Friends of Arnold Circus. 

The mound was constructed from rubble from the demolition of the Friars Mount slum (also known as the Old Nichol Street Rookery). The Friars Mount slum was cleared by the London County Council to make way for the existing Boundary Estate housing development, one of the earliest social housing schemes. Construction of the estate began in 1890, and it was formally opened in 1900.  A  bandstand was constructed on top of the mound, and it is still in use today.

To learn more about what was discovered during the Arnold Circus community dig, follow the links to the left for daily reports.  

View photos from the community dig on the Museum of London's Flickr (external link) photostream.