Kirkby Hardwick excavation: 3-14 October 2011

Kirkby Hardwick in 1912.

Community archaeologists from Nottinghamshire County Council have teamed up with volunteers from Kirkby and District Archaeology Group to run a two-week excavation of Kirkby Hardwick, a large house with medieval origins, which is located near to Sutton Parkway railway station. The house was demolished in the mid-1960s and the aim of the excavation is to "uncover some of the foundations and footprint of the building, and start to understand how the building developed over time." A brief history of the house is available on my Notts History website.

The dig will be open to the public on Saturday, 15 October between 10 and 4. Information is available on the Nottinghamshire County Council website.

Thanks to the Southumbria blog for alerting me to this project.

Request for help with the Nottinghamshire Great War Centenary Exhibition (2014)

Major John Cotterill is organising an exhibition on Nottinghamshire in the Great War to be held at Nottingham Castle in 2014. The exhibition will "cover all aspects of the part played in the Great War by the men, women, institutions, industrial enterprises and regiments of Nottinghamshire." John is putting together a team of volunteers to undertake research and also act as guides for some of the events and if you would like to take part please email him at john.cotterill@btinternet.com.

Event: 'People, places ... and baskets' A Nottinghamshire historical miscellany (29 October 2011)

The next Nottinghamshire Local History Association conference will give several local history societies the chance to "offer short presentations on aspects of their particular local interest and the fruits of their labour in pursuing it." Presentations include 'Ravenshead- birth of a community', the effect of WW1 on Bramcote, the history of basket-weaving in East Leake, Thynghowe ("a Viking age assembly site in Birklands on the western edge of Sherwood Forest"), the Elston Heritage Project, Cuckney village history and George Freeth (a Victorian solicitor). The conference will take place at Ravenshead Village Hall on Saturday, 29th October, 10am-4.30pm.
See the Nottinghamshire Local History Association website for further information.

The Nottinghamshire Historian, Autumn/Winter 2011

The latest edition of The Nottinghamshire Historian has just arrived. There is a fascinating article on the development of Nottinghamshire County Council's CLASP (Consortium of Local Authorities Special Programme) modular building system. These distinctive buildings can be found all over the county (and country!) and I spent many 'happy' hours being educated in the ones at Rampton Primary and Retford Grammar schools in the 1960s and 70s. Other articles cover the work of the Norwell Parish Heritage Group, reminiscences of Vernon Radcliffe (curator of Newark Museum from 1964-1991) and a profile of Arthur William Brewill, architect and soldier.
Further details (and downloadable documentation on CLASP buildings) are available on the Nottinghamshire Local History Association website.

Hyson Green flats feature on BBC2's 'The Reel History of Britain programme

The Hyson Green local history project, 'On the Flats', will feature on next week's 'The Reel History of Britain' programme, presented by Melvyn Bragg.

Entitled 'Streets in the sky', the programme "will explore housing redevelopment in the ‘60s and ‘70s – including how high-rise housing like Hyson Green Flats was said to promise a better way of living when it was first built."

The programme goes out at 6.30pm on Tuesday, 27 September on BBC2.

• The Reel History of Britain: Streets in the Sky page on the BBC website

Romano-British village found near Collingham

There's a report in today's Nottingham Evening Post covering the excavation of a Romano-British rural settlement at Tarmac's Langford Quarry, near Collingham.

A team from Trent and Peak Archaeology has spent the past year working on the site and have uncovered eight stone-lined wells, containing worked timbers, and a wide range of small finds.

Archaeologist Lee Elliott commented that "the exceptional range of artefacts for a rural community suggests prosperity, possibly built on large-scale animal husbandry and associated products servicing the nearby Romano-British towns at Brough and Lincoln."

• Nottingham Evening Post article
• Illustrated article on the Past Horizons website