Archaeology Service - some of our projects

Find out here about some of our projects. For more details, follow the links on this page.

Please select the links on this page for more information on some of our projects...

Pentrehyling and Brompton Roman fort

In March 2010 the Archaeology Service carried out a watching brief on roadworks on the A489 road between Pentrehyling and Bluebell Crossroads, Brompton, in southwest Shropshire. This section of the road runs through an area occupied by the Pentrehyling Roman fort, a vicus, and a number of Roman marching camps. These sites had been investigated archaeologically before in the 1980s and 1990s. The 2010 watching brief located a number of features associated with the Roman fort, vicus, and marching camps. These included the probable southern and eastern fort ditches, a number of pits within the vicus area, and the possible western ditch of one of the marching camps.

The Wrekin

In July 2011 the Archaeology Service carried out some archaeological recording of a cairn (HER 01782) on the summiton The Wrekin Hillfort. The recording included low-level aerial photography, commissioned from Aerial-Cam.

Acton Scott Heritage Project

This is a two year, Heritage Lottery Fund community project run by the Archaeology Service of Shropshire County Council. The aim of the project has been to explore major questions about the settlement and land use of the parish over the last 3000 years.

Members of the Heritage Project group have been taking part in a range of archaeological and historical techniques. These have included field surveys of various earthwork sites around the parish, field walking, shovel pit testing and a tree and hedgerow survey. Members of the group have also been involved in historical research and interpretation. And there have been two seasons of trial excavations on a cropmark Iron Age farmstead enclosure and Roman villa discovered in the 19th century.

Rectory Wood Heritage Project

In March 2009 the Archaeology Service led a community archaeology investigation at the Rectory Wood and Field Countryside Heritage Site on behalf of the Rectory Wood Heritage Project.
The investigations included the evaluation excavation of two structures, an icehouse and a summerhouse, within a former 18th and 19th century landscaped garden with “Capability” Brown connections.
The icehouse was seen to be largely intact ,although its roof had collapsed into the chamber. Only the foundations and floor of the summerhouse remained.
The project was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Shropshire Council.

St Austin's Friars and Bridge Street, Shrewsbury

In 2007 work was carried out to erect a two-storey office extension following the demolition of a former school house building at Bridge Street, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, and to relocate the school house building on land at St Austin’s Friars, Shrewsbury. The development site lay within the historic core of the medieval town and continued to be developed throughout the medieval and post-medieval periods. A desk-based assessment by R K Morriss in 1996 and a field evaluation by the Archaeology Service, SCC, in 1997 had identified archaeological features within the development area. These included the line of the 13th century town wall and part of the town's Augustinian Friary.

A programme of archaeological work was included as part of the development to record these and any other archaeological features that might be revealed. The work was carried out by the Archaeology Service, SCC, in April and May 2007. On the St Austin's Friars site this work revealed a sequence of medieval features and yards, a late medieval sandstone wall and the remains of a post-medieval house, the White House, demolished in 1978. On the Bridge Street site a number of medieval and post-medieval pits were revealed, the latter possibly associated with a tanning industry. The town wall was shown to have probably followed the line of the northern boundary of the site, where sandstone stonework is incorporated into the current buildings.

Llanymynech Limeworks

In 2006-7, the Archaeology Service carried out a programme of investigation and recording at the Llanymynech Heritage Area on behalf of the Llanymynech Limeworks Heritage Project.

The investigations included two separate excavations at the Hoffman Kiln in September 2006 and October 2007 which aimed to record remains relating to former tramways servicing the kiln. The excavations also provided members of the local community an opportunity to take part in a hands-on investigation of the archaeology of the kiln. The remains of former yards and tramways beside the kiln, and parts of the structure of a steel roof that once covered the kiln were recorded.

Drawn and photographic records were made of several structures during the course of the restoration works, including a former Stable Block, a Tally Hut, and a Winding Drum House at the top of an inclined plane.

Corbet Wood and Grinshill

In 2008-9, the Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council carried out a rapid field survey of archaeological features on Grinshill, Clive and Grinshill, Shropshire.

There have previously been finds of Mesolithic and Neolithic flint from the summit of the hill, but the site is principally known as the source of Grinshill Stone, a high quality sandstone used extensively in buildings in the area from the 13th century onwards.

The survey recorded a total of 135 features, mainly associated with post-medieval quarrying on the hill. A number of ruined cottages or settlement sites – probably quarrymen’s cottages – were also noted.