BIG DIG little dig BIG DIG little dig BIG DIG little dig
Canterbury Archaeological Trust is currently carrying out a series of major excavations which together occupy around 10% of the historic city. The Canterbury Whitefriars project began in 2000 and will finish in 2004.
With completion of the third major phase in August 2002 we now have a year’s break and this seems a suitable time to relate how a public hungry for all things archaeological was invited to experience the discovery of Canterbury’s heritage - as it happened.
The Trust realised that excavation on this scale was unlikely to occur in the city again and that Whitefriars represented the best opportunity it had ever had to provide good public access to our work. So it was that in the spring of 2001 THE BIG DIG Visitor Centre opened at the first major site at St George’s Street and became the public face of the Whitefriars project.
The three consecutive BIG DIG project managers, Helen Evans, Helen Parker, Jo Hall, and their assistants are all to be commended for its success, and the venture really would not have been possible without the committed team of 40 volunteers.
Between March 2001 and August 2002 THE BIG DIG centre attracted 1000’s of visitors, moving from site to site, tracking the digging. Daily access was supplemented by ‘Special Events’ programmes which included: Meet the Specialists, re-enactment groups, lectures, craft days with Canterbury Young Archaeologist Club, environmental workshops, Anglo-Saxon weaving, making lanterns from animal horn, National Archaeology weekend, The Little Dig (below) and flint knapping with Time Team’s Phil Harding.
Special interest groups
Many different groups took the opportunity to see the live archaeology. Among these were school children. My chief responsibility as Education Officer lies with the county’s schools and I became personally involved for the summer 2002 phase. A few of THE BIG DIG staff were ex-school teachers and we arranged briefing sessions for those who had a rapport with young people but were not so familiar with the school curriculum. So with a little support, their enthusiasm and some common sense the job was done. Very many thanks to all of you who took part and kept cool when it got pretty hot!
‘Thank you for a BRAIN-STORMING day!’
This is what one young visitor thought of THE BIG DIG. He also said ‘It was different to see lots of women digging’ - well noticed Sean.
So what were we able to offer schools?
We saw this project as a stimulus and opportunity to support classroom teaching; in History for example:
Looking at types of evidence (all key stages)
Studying the Roman and the Anglo-Saxons (Key Stage 2)
A Local Museum Study (Key Stage 2)
Looking at Medieval Society (Key Stage 3)
Teaching GCSE (Key Stage 4) or A Level Archaeology
There were other applications, for example in Geography and Citizenship.
A typical visit included:
The aerial walkway. Children were fascinated by the different stages going on. We wanted our young visitors to use this opportunity to look at what was happening (there was so much!) and ask their questions. After some experiment it was found that a simple pictorial ‘jobs’ record sheet was a useful aid to focus young primary school pupils. Large colour photos of the spectacular discoveries brought the site to life!
The exhibition. There were finds from the site for children to identify and in display cases. Wall displays illustrated the history of the area and the varied work of the archaeologist, and a plasma screen presentation showed the latest discoveries.
A small shop. Here there were small souvenirs for the pupils and resources for the teachers.
THE BIG DIG Resource Pack (available on-line)
Teachers were given a free BIG DIG pack including background material and ways to incorporate a visit into teaching schemes. Even without a site available, in many elements of the pack provide a valuable classroom resource for History, Geography and Citizenship programmes. Jonathan Barnes, William Stowe and Stephen Scoffham of the Faculty of Education at Canterbury Christ Church University College wrote the content and production of the pack.
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Who came?
Most were primary school groups. One brought all its children, from 4 to 11 years old — mercifully not all at once. We also had secondary schools and some special schools, for students with learning difficulties.
Where did they come from?
Most came from Kent schools: Ashford, Herne, Folkestone, Dover, Gillingham, Broadstairs, Sheerness, Monkton, Margate, Whitstable, and the Canterbury area. Many of the non-Canterbury teachers had planned visits to include other local sites and the Dane John public gardens nearby were a perfect spot for lunch breaks in fine weather.
Why did they come?
Teachers are recognising the role that Archaeology plays when investigating the past, and reasons for coming included work on: local history, Roman lifestyle, Anglo-Saxon lifestyle, the city of Canterbury, Tudor times, medieval towns, Underground, the Ancient Greeks, the Indus Valley, and A Level History. For many of them, answering the question “How do we know?” was at the forefront of their thinking — and if the levels we were digging on that day coincided with their area of study, then so much the better! Our involvement with a Citizenship project during the St George’s Street phase was an interesting deviation from the norm.
The Citizenship approach
During the 2000/2001 school year, English Heritage Education ran an innovative pilot project designed to help meet the requirements of Citizenship Education in the National Curriculum (Heritage Learning, spring 2002). It was called Citizenship and the Historic Environment, and 5 Canterbury schools took part for EH South East Region. The Canterbury project focused on the issues surrounding the redevelopment scheme at Whitefriars. This of course includes the archaeology and EH gave us the opportunity to participate. It was a stimulating exercise as children were encouraged to interrogate the whole process of archaeological excavation.
SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER!
Summer term 2002 and visits continued right up to the end. There were two weeks left until the closure of THE BIG DIG centre and there was a further treat in store.
The Little Dig
The idea of The Little Dig was brought to Canterbury by Jo Hall, THE BIG DIG project manager, summer 2002. Jo had participated in this family activity at the Museum of London where it originated last summer and it had been very popular.