The children are participating in the excavation of the large gardened mound at the centre of Arnold Circus, which is topped by a Victorian bandstand. Local legends speak of a tunnel connecting the mound to a local church; others say an ancient king is buried there with a hoard of treasure!
The archaeologists leading the dig have used old maps, photographs and records to find out some of the recent history of the site and surrounding local area. Kate Sumnall from the Museum of London shows the children a map of 1706 indicating that the current Arnold Circus area was once just fields and gardens for growing food to be sold in London, still away down the road to the south.
London kept on growing however and by the late 1800s the area was covered with dark and smelly slum dwellings known as the Old Nichol Street Rookery. This slum was demolished by the Victorians in the 1890s and replaced with new, cleaner housing with the garden mound and bandstand as a central feature of the development, as it still is today.
Although old documents can tell us a lot about history, not everything is written down and that’s where field archaeologists can help to fill in gaps and make startling and exciting new discoveries about the past!
Al Telfer is in charge of investigating the Arnold Circus mound which begins by fencing off an area to keep people safe from the work to be done. A mechanical digger is then brought in by Reg, the driver, who opens the trench and digs it to the desired depth, under the careful eye of Al. When the trench is ready, some special archaeologists called geoarchaeologists arrive with a power auger, which is like a big drill, to test how thick the mound is, and to see what it is made from.
Mary Ruddy (one of the geoarchaeologists) and Al found out that the mound is over five metres thick and made up of eight layers of material from the demolition of the Rookery and building work for the new estate, topped with some brick rubble. On top of this rubble is the original Victorian surface of the mound, a layer of gravel. This former part of a footpath where ladies and gentlemen would have perambulated (a Victorian word for taking a walk) whilst listening to a brass band play patriotic and stirring marches or hymns and popular tunes. Finally there was a layer of tarmac, the modern top of the mound as it is today.
Next, Kate Sumnall teaches the children about archaeology and shows them some of the artefacts that Al has found earlier so they can see what to expect, as Al is about to teach them how to dig in the trench for themselves!
The children put on their protective equipment and excitedly, but carefully trowel away, under the calm guidance of Al. They soon find trays full of artefacts and Kate explains to them the significance of what they have found. Animal bones and sea shells show what people used to eat, sherds of pottery (some highly decorated and colourful) and shards of glass reveal what people ate and drank from, and buttons and pieces of shoes show what people were wearing. Pieces of small shoes were found, like the children would have been wearing themselves if they were living there over one hundred years ago!
Did they find the ancient king and his hoard of treasure? Unfortunately not, but he could still be out there somewhere, waiting!