Today’s Archaeology blog is from ‘Team Darcy’; second year students at the University of Southampton, using high-tech equipment to seek out the foundations of forgotten buildings and structures on the historic Chawton House Library estate.
Figure 1: Leica FlexLine total station, setup near the south-east corner of the main house.
Today, during our survey of Chawton House Library we conducted a geophysical resistivity survey of the lawn, beside the house, on the south and south-west side. This technique uses a tool that allows electrical resistivity, below the ground, to be measured, which can then be mapped out, and higher or lower resistance areas can signify archaeological features, such as walls, pits or middens. The results so far have shown some archaeological potential, but it is hard to say exactly what is there, at this stage. It is possible that there are foundations of another short-lived wing of the house, or perhaps the medieval manor that predated the Elizabethan house. This is an exciting stage of the survey, as there is a mystery to be resolved. Tonight we will process the data from the resistivity survey and see what it shows, allowing us to plan our course of action for tomorrow. Hopefully, we find something interesting that we can include in our final survey report.
Figure 2: Michael Burgess, operating a Leica FlexLine total station, on the South Lawn.
The week, so far, has seen some interesting work being carried out at Chawton House Library. Apart from the electrical resistance survey, other activities have included indoor building survey and surveying the landscape and gardens. We have surveyed some interesting features in the cellar, including a possible outer wall and doorway of medieval origin, and a Tudor fireplace directly under a Victorian archway. Upstairs, whilst surveying, we found what could be a reused piece of wood, which may once have had carved letters on it.
Figure 3: Michael Burgess and Harry Burridge carrying out a resistivity survey, on the South Lawn.
Today was spent outside, and whilst the resistivity survey was being carried out, more elevations and details around the outside of the main building were surveyed. The weather held out, and when not sunning themselves, the students were discussing the merits of different window styles; in the courtyard are a few different examples of different temporal styles. Jacobean style, as can be seen on the Eastern wall, Elizabethan on the Game Larder, and more modern (Victorian) in other locations. On a side note, in some places windows can be dated as pre- and post- 1666, since following the Great Fire of London legislation was put in place to prevent fire spreading by introducing window sills, set back from the wall.
Figure 4: Harry Burridge using the Leica Viva RTK GPS to ‘grid out’ (set out 30m x 30m squares), prior to conducting the resistivity survey.
By: Michael Burgess and Harry Burridge.