Villagers asked to volunteer gardens for dig

1 hour ago

Pamela TickellNorth East and Cumbria

News image — The holes would be backfilled at the end of the day

North Pennines National Landscape Three people are on their knees and crouched over as they investigate the soil below them. They are knelt in a shallow hole that has been dug in the field. They are all wearing blue waterproof jackets and gloves while archaeology equipment like spades and spatulas are strewn around them. — The holes would be backfilled at the end of the day

Villagers have been asked to put up their gardens and land for an archaeological dig that will explore the area's lead mining history.

A series of one metre by one metre (3ft by 3ft) test pits would be dug by volunteers across Nenthead, Cumbria, in August to discover items from when it was a thriving mining village.

Rebecca Cadbury-Simmons from North Pennines National Landscape (NPNL) hoped people would feel a "deeper sense of connection to the history of Nenthead, and even possibly to the house that they're living in".

Volunteer diggers would be supported by an archaeologist and the pits would be backfilled at the end of the day and the turf replaced if needed.

Cadbury-Simmons said they were hoping to explore the domestic side of life in the village in the 18th and 19th Century.

"It was a lot closer to what life is like now than I think most people would imagine," she said.

"The children would have gone to school, there was a pub in the village, there was a reading room, there was clubs and societies, they had a cricket club and a brass band."

She said a lot of the miners would have also been farmers, with the whole family involved in running the farm and growing their own food.

"It would have been quite a humble way of life," she said.

Beamish, The Living Museum of the North A black and white image of about 100 people standing in front of a tall Mill building and looking at the camera. Most of them are wearing hats and long coats. About a dozen men at the front are carrying brass instruments. There are houses in the background. — Nenthead had a brass band picture circa.1900 in front of Rampgill Mill which was later destroyed by fire

Cadbury-Simmons said they expected to find bits of kitchen pottery, personal items like buttons from clothing or buckles from shoes and animal bones from when they had been cooking.

"All those little intimate pieces that will give us a nice picture of what their daily life was like," she said.

Nenthead Mine was owned by the London Lead Company which provided housing, allotments and religious buildings for their workers.

Some of the houses were still standing, but some plots had been redeveloped.

"We're hopeful that a lot of that history in the gardens will still be well preserved," Cadbury-Simmons said.

North Pennines National Landscape Rebecca Cadbury-Simmons is standing in a muddy hole in the ground, leaning on a spade and smiling at the camera. She has mid-length ginger hair and is wearing a dark red jumper and jeans. — Rebecca Cadbury-Simmons hoped people would feel a "deeper connection" to their village

NPNL said it was "very unlikely" they would find items considered to be treasure, such as coin hoards, but if they did, they would be reported to authorities in line with the 1996 Treasure Act.

People wanting to volunteer to dig will be given equipment.

"You don't need to bring anything other than interest," Cadbury-Simmons said.

The dig will be part of the Land of Lead and Silver project which is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England.

Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.