In September 2022, the Lancaster office of Oxford Archaeology undertook the second season of community archaeological excavation, commissioned by the Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership, to undertake fieldwork on Little Asby Common. We put together a blog so you can follow our daily updates!
Last year was spent doing a series of trial trenching across various features identified on the common by landscape survey, the surveys revealed that the common is packed with interesting archaeological features, but we had to settle on one site to go to full excavation this summer. The location chosen was a Longhouse structure that appeared to be built against a stone built enclosure that last season’s carbon dates revealed to have been constructed in the Bronze Age. Andy Phelps, assisted by Katie Sanderson, lead a team of local volunteers and community archaeologists in the investigation of this structure with the aim of figuring out its age and construction.
We were visited on our open day by our own Adam Parsons (pictured right) dressed and carrying reproductions of materials that may have been used by those who once stayed in our longhouse, which really brought our excavation to life!
We would like to thank Hannah Kingsbury for organising this wonderful project and all our brilliant and skilled volunteers. We couldn’t have done it without you!
The project is providing a fantastic opportunity for people to get involved and help to reveal the rich heritage of this area. Managed by Oxford Archaeology's Lancaster office on the ground, 47 volunteers and our apprentice team at the Westmorland Dales Scheme got involved with all aspects of the work, including the excavation, recording techniques, landscape survey recognition, core sampling and drone surveys.”
Hannah Kingsbury, Cultural heritage officer, Westmorland Dales Scheme
Meet the team
Andy has worked as a commercial field archaeologist for over twenty years, joining OA in 2013 where he now leads the historic buildings and landscapes fieldwork teams for our Lancaster office, and coordinates our geomatics provision for our core excavation activities. He is a skilled surveyor, experienced in photogrammetry, UAV survey, laser scanning and other cutting edge data collection techniques and their application to the recording of a broad range of historic buildings and landscapes. Typical project work includes building and landscape surveys, heritage and condition assessments and contributing to conservation management plans on a wide spectrum of building and landscape types. His interests are as diverse as his workload; however, he has a particular focus on vernacular structures, buildings conservation practice and a fascination in upland landscapes. He holds a BA in Archaeology, an MA in Buildings Archaeology, and a Certificate of Higher Education in Historic Building Conservation.
My name is Katie Sanderson, I am a Field Supervisor based at the Lancaster office, with an interest in working with students and local communities to develop archaeological skills and training. I worked on the Little Asby community dig over the course of two summers where I helped organise and supervise teams of local volunteers excavating and recording a variety of features found across Little Asby common and writing a blog documenting our activities.
Browse the blog
Project partners
