Geophysics in Crockenhill, 28th October 2018

Geophysics in Crockenhill, 21st October 2018

Investigating a site that has produced Roman coins and pottery. The circular depression in the ground is a dene hole.

Further work in Otford with DROP, 6-7th October 2018

Further work in Otford with DROP, 8-9th September 2018

Further work in Otford with DROP,18th August 2018

Further work in Otford with DROP, 14th-15th August 2018

Further work in Otford with DROP, 11th-12th August 2018

Continuing work in Otford with DROP, 30th June-1st July 2018

Resistivity Project in Minster, Isle of Sheppey 16th June 2018

WKAS was invited to assist with a resistivity survey in Minster by the local archaeological group.

Continuing work in Otford with DROP, 2-3rd June 2018

Continuing work in Otford with DROP, 10-11th May 2018

Continuing work in Otford with DROP, 5-7th May 2018

WKAS members continued to assist DROP with their excavation of a probable Roman Villa in Otford.

Another test pit in Horton Kirby 28th April, 2018

We continued to investigate geophysical anomolies on a field in Horton Kirby with another test pit.

Assisting in Cliffe with geophysics 21st April, 2018

Working with DROP in Otford 14-15th April, 2018

This weekend saw WKAS members assisting DROP in Otford excavating their Roman villa.

The excavation in Horton-Kirby 8th April, 2018

This Sunday we completed TP1 & TP2 and these are now closed down.

The excavation in Horton-Kirby 30th March-2nd April, 2018

The weather was against us this weekend and we only managed limited work on the Friday. After a rest day on the Saturday we continued with the two open test pits. The weather forecast was not favourable for the Monday so the event was cancelled.

Preparing for the excavation in Horton-Kirby 30th March-2nd April, 2018

Lesley & Geoff were out in Horton Kirby on 25th March locating and marking the points of interest from the geophysics for excavation over the Easter weekend.

Assisting on DROP’s excavation in Otford 16-19th March, 2018

WKAS members assisted with the DROP excavation, the first this season. As you can see from the photos the weather was dramatic and it was extremely cold!

Geophysics Hawley Saturday 17th February, 2018

First outing of the new year to Horton Kirby to conduct some geophysics over some promising crop marks. The results however, were poor and might have been due to the wet ground.

Final weekend of working with DROP this season 7-8th October, 2017

This weekend saw WKAS members assisting DROP with final work before the closing up of the site until 2018.

Continuing to look for a Roman building in Shoreham, Sunday 24th September, 2017

New project: Looking for a Roman building in Shoreham, Sunday 17th September, 2017

Continuing in Otford with DROP Sunday 3rd September, 2017

Searching for a chapel,19th-20th August 2017

Excavating in Otford with DROP on 17th August 2017

Excavating in Otford,12th-13th August 2017

WKAS members again volunteering to assist another local group (DROP) on their excavation in Otford. This excavation will be continuing until 20th August for a full week of excavation.

Excavating in Otford 15th-16th July, 2017

WKAS members continued to help another local group (DROP) with their excavation in Otford.

Geophysics in Horton Kirby 1st July, 2017

WKAS members investigating a potential new Medieval site in Horton Kirby.

Excavating in Otford 3rd-4th June, 2017

WKAS members were again in action assisting another local group (DROP) at an excavation in Otford.

Excavating in Otford 7th May, 2017

WKAS continued co-operation with another local group (DROP – Discover Roman Otford Project) in Otford.

Excavating in Otford 8-9th April, 2017

WKAS members have been excavating in Otford in collaboration with another local group (DROP – Discover Roman Otford Project). This excavation is likely to continue over the summer months.

Finishing the survey in Edenbridge 18th March, 2017

Continuing the survey in Horton Kirby on a new field 26th February 2017

Further work at Edenbridge 27th October 2016

Continuing at Edenbridge 16th October 2016

Back to Edenbridge 2nd October 2016

We continued our resistivity survey but were joined on site by West Kent Detector Club members conducting a general search.

Return to Edenbridge 25th September 2016

We returned to a site that we started in 2012-2013. There are promising results showing a possible Roman settlement site which is unusual in the Weald of Kent. Thanks to John and Geoff for the pictures.

Completion of Project Otford, August 2016

Project Otford, August 2016

We continued geophysics activities in Otford on Sunday 7th August 2016.

Project Otford, July 2016

We have been working in Otford completing geophysics and doing some excavation work in collaboration with another local group.

Finishing the garden in Horton Kirby Saturday 23rd April, 2016

Working in Twitton, Sunday 13th March, 2016

Our last opportunity in Twitton before the field is ploughed and seeded but we think we have all the results we need for now anyway! We welcomed another couple of new members and it appears that they enjoyed their day out with us.

A weekend working in Twitton, Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st February, 2016

Members completed the geophysics of a field in Twitton on Saturday and dug two test pits over anomalies on Sunday. The anomalies proved to be geological. Thank you to the new members who came along to help.

Geophysics at Horton Kirby – Sunday 17th January, 2016

A few brave souls, including two new members, gathered to start geophysics in the garden of a well known and old local property in Horton Kirby. As you can see from the pictures it was the day after the first fall of snow this winter!

Continuing geophysics at Twitton – Sunday 29th November, 2015

A few members braved the inclemement weather on the last Sunday in November to try to complete some more geophysics. They also excavated a metal signal found by Geoff on a previous detecting foray that was below the plough soil. It turned out to be a sawn off piece of one of the pipelines laid across the field! Thank you to Sally for the pictures of Kevin wearing the iron ring!

Continuing geophysics at Twitton – Sunday 8th November, 2015

Continuing geophysics at Twitton – Sunday 1st November, 2015

Continuing geophysics at Twitton – Saturday 17th October, 2015

Four members gathered at Twitton to continue with the geophysics which had been previously shown promising results.

Geophysics Birthday Party – 4th July, 2015

A first for WKAS was being asked to conduct a geophysical survey of a back garden for a birthday party!

Continuing in Otford on a Roman building 20-21st June, 2015

This weekend we completed some archaeological training and continued to dig on the Roman site we are investigating in Otford.

Spring dig in Otford on a Roman building 2nd-9th May, 2015

WKAS members, together with invited guests from other local archaeological groups, gathered in Otford to continue work on a Roman building. The weather was at times dubious but it didn’t affect the archaeological excavation work. Coins recovered from archaeological context would seem to date the building to the Mid 3rd –  Mid 4th Century.

Finishing geophysics in Horton Kirby 19th April, 2015

Working on Progress Villa, Otford on 14th March and 29th March, 2015

With thanks to English Heritage for granting a licence for investigations at Progress Villa which is scheduled ancient monument.
On 14th March, 2015

and on 29th March, 2015

Working on a field in Horton Kirby, 1st February and 1st March, 2015

1st February, 2015

and on 1st March, 2015

Working with Cliff Archaeological Group surveying Cliff 2015 Church

We were asked to assist and provide resistivity training in Cliff near Hoo in Kent. The first occasion was on 31st January and then again on 28th February.

31st January, 2015


and on 28th February, 2015

Test Pitting Farningham Cricket Ground, November 2014

We continued test pitting on Sunday 16th November. We opened our third test pit.

Finishing Test Pit 2

Test Pit 3
@ 10cm

@ 20cm

@ 30cm

Test Pit 1
@ 60cm

@ 70cm

@ 80cm

Test Pitting Farningham Cricket Ground, November 2014

The first days test pitting was held on Sunday 9th November, 2014. The weather held good and infact the sun came out in the afternoon and started to dry everything up nicely. The only problem was the shade/sun mixture when photographing the test pits which was only cured by stratigic placing of coats to cut out the sun!

We even roped in the visitors! Herewith some photos of an object metal detected from the side of test pit 1.

Test pit 1 (10cm spits)
Spit 1 @ 10cm

Spit 2 @ 20cm

Spit 3 @ 30cm

Spit 4 @ 40cm

Spit 5 @ 50cm

Test Pit 2
10cm spits
Spit 1 @ 10cm

Spit 2 @ 20cm

Spit 3 @ 30cm

Spit 4 @ 40cm

Spit 5 @ 50cm to natural
>

Annual General Meeting, October 2014

After completing the geophysics at Farningham Cricket Club we met at Lesley and Geoff’s house for our AGM. We elected our committee for the coming year and talked about our current and future projects plus catching up with our pottery identification and general recording.

Back to Farningham, geophysics October 2014

We returned to Farningham to continue geophysics on the cricket pitch adjacent to our previously excavated site with kind permission of Farninham Cricket Club committee. We completed the majority of the geophysics on the Saturday and returned to complete the work on the Sunday morning before our AGM. The geophysics results are interesting enough for us to consider test pitting in the region of the ground where the club intends to install cricket nets shortly.

Back in Otford, geophysics, September 2014

A few of the crew conducted geopysics on a field adjacent to another area of interest in Otford over two weekends in September. The results look interesting and it is proposed that we do further grids in the time remaining before the field is seeded.

Searching for archaeology, Tunbridge Wells August 2014

We were invited by the local archaeological group to investigate a potential site in Tunbridge Wells with resistivity geophysics. The site, in the Weald of Kent, had produced a bloomery and the local group were interested to discover if there was anything further in the vacinity. Quite a few grids were completed but nothing conclusive was discovered.

Investigating a suspected denehole in Green Street Green, Dartford August 2014

We were called in by a farmer who was concerned that a section of his land had ‘sunk’ during the wet weather. As there had been a history of deneholes on his land, one of which had opened and a steer fell in which fortunately survived and was winched to safety from a ledge inside and in 1911-15 another opened suddenly and swallowed a whole horse ploughing team none of which survived. We carried out our usual resistivity geophysics over the area and John used his ‘home made’ geophysics machine which takes a ‘slice’ through the ground down to 3m. Both sets of results proved the existence of the denehole, the resistivity results showed a large circular opening in the ground in plan view and John’s results showed a section of the denehole of a classic shape. The farmer has been advised to fence off the area to prevent any accidents! We were also priviledged to witness an aerial display from the Lancaster bombers, one from Canada and one from the Memorial flight together with the usual escort of Hurricane and Spitfire.

Work Continues in Farningham during August 2014

The final work was completed for this year in Farningham with drawing trenches and then backfilling.

Work Continues in Farningham

The usual crowd gathered to continue with the excavation work in Farningham before the deadline of 15th August when the field will be sown and therefore unavailable.
Thanks must also go to Gerald and Roger for their help with this project. Welcome to new member John as well! These photos are from 21st June, 2014.

These photos are from 28th June, 29th June and 1st July, 2014.

Display for Farningham and Eynsford Local History Society

Lesley and Geoff attended the AGM of the Farningham & Eynsford Local History Society and put on a display of finds and records from the Farningham Easter dig. Geoff also gave a short talk to the assembled members.

Back to Beckets Well, Otford for a final tidy up May 18th 2014.

Three intrepid members enjoyed a fine sunny Sunday in Otford clearing the remaining and new undergrowth at Beckets Well.

Digging Farningham Castle ….or perhaps not! April 12th-April 18th 2014.

We returned to Farningham to conduct our Easter dig. The weather and the company was fantastic! Thanks must go to all who helped out, WKAS members and those from other groups. A special mention goes to Roger, Gerald, Andrew, Richard and the whole mob from Shorne! Well, did we find the Castle? … probably not but we may have found the Manorial complex. When and if we are able to return to the site we may learn more. We did however, find the moat and what we called the ‘barn’ but without a significant amount of evidence these features remain undated for now but according to the old maps they must have existed before 1790! Many thanks once again to the Landowner for his permission to dig.

Back to Farningham 22-23rd March 2014.

The usual crew of members gathered in Farningham to continue the geophysics that had previously been curtailed by the flooding. Although the field was still damp in places most was available although some had to be passed with care and we had to be watchful of each other and effect extraction from the ‘quick mud’ as necessary. Lesley and Geoff had laid out the remaining 26 grids on the Saturday and were joined by the rest of the members on the Sunday. We braved rain and at one point hail but the excellent results were worth it despite a technical hitch with the equipment! The number of examples of horse shoes of various ages, picked up during the field walk, are from the horse fairs held on this site until the First World War.

Beckets Well vegetation clearance, Otford, March 2014.

Beckets Well is a scheduled ancient monument located in Otford. As you can see from the photographs it has suffered some degredation over the years. WKAS members, with the agreement of English Heritage, assisted the landowner by helping to clear the site of excess vegetation over the weekend. Unfortunately, we were unable to complete the task due to some trees that had come down in the recent windy and wet weather. We will return when the trees have been removed by the tree surgeon and the water table has lowered enabling us to enter the water to remove the rest of the plant matter. Thanks to Phil for copies of the black and white photographs from 1912 – 1922   and from the excavation that took place in the 1950’s and the colour photos from the 1980’s and the overgrowth of 2008. Thanks to Andy for the before and after shots from Saturday 1st March, 2014 and to Geoff for the rest of the shots and finally, thanks to you the members for turning up to help! Comedy moment of the day goes to Andy who nearly had a vole run up his trouser leg!

Continuing to Find the Manor House, Farningham, February 2014.

The weekend of 1st & 2nd February saw members once again continuing to survey a field in Farningham. The field was rough ploughed and in places extremely wet and boggy. A couple of new members turned up to help on the Sunday and the normal motley crew were grateful for some respite after they had completed the whole day on the Saturday and were very weary! We were unable to complete the project due to the glutinous mud and water lying on half of the field but we are very grateful that the landowner will allow us a return visit later on in March/April.

WKAS assist the Environment Agency

Lesley received a call from the Environment Agency about the geophysical work that we had been carrying out in Farningham. Apparently, a tree had fallen into the River Darent and the Agency had to remove it. To do this meant employing a large vehicle to drag the tree from the river, this vehicle would have to anchor itself in the ground and therefore the workmen needed to know where the remains were in the field in order to prevent the anchors from damaging the structures beneath the ground. Lesley was able to furnish them with the geophysical results of the meadow overlayed on Google Earth which had been provided by Andy.

Finding the Manor House, Farningham, January 2014.

Saturday 18th January saw a small group of members geophysing a meadow in Farningham looking for the extent of the various manor house foundations. Previous research and excavations have indicated that there was a Norman Manor House and a later Tudor Manor House on the site. Due to flooding in the area and the huge amount of water coming down the Darent, which is adjacent to the site, a few areas of the field were about 3-4 inches deep in water! The water, together with an overgrowth of brambles in some areas, made progress slow at times! The members managed to complete a number of grids in the meadow and, with permission of an adjacent landowner, a few more on his land. The results, once analysed by Andy, were very interesting and plainly showed the foundation layout of two rectangular and other, yet to be indentified structures. We hope to obtain permission to geophys a further adjacent field in the near future to complete the picture.

Annual General Meeting, 3rd November 2013

Ten members attended the Society’s AGM which was held in two of the members’ houses in Farningham. We all had a lovely buffet lunch to which all members contributed. We discussed our current , past and future projects, elected our Officers and Committee members for 2013-2014 and made a few changes to simplify the Constitution. After the business part of the meeting we all retired to sort and record our recent pottery finds.

Geophysics Edenbridge area, 6th October 2013

We continued with geophysics on a field on the Kent/Surrey border with kind permission of the landowner, increasing by 17 on the number of grid squares (previously 30) and now have some interesting results which will need further investigation crops permitting. It appears that what we initially thought were land drains may well be buildings with a courtyard.

Geophysics Kemsing area, September 2013

We carried out geophysics and fieldwalking on a field in the Kemsing area over the weekend of 7th-8th September. There has previously been discovered a Bronze Age Barrrow and Romano-British cremation burials in this field. With the kind permission of the Landowner we obtained data from 22 grids – the most we have ever achieved in one weekend! We think the geophysics data may show more barrows together with possibly more cremations. We are hoping to continue the geophysics and fieldwalking as the crops permit. We have now to sort all the fieldwalking assembledge and record it.