There were 5 volunteers today, tasks focussed around preparing the site for the Heritage Open Day guided walks next week, and following up leads from last Saturday which identified areas for potential investigation.
We looked at the 4 Visual Aids which had been prepared for the open days, these are laminated pictures of how a mill works and a picture from the elevator catalogue to show visitors.
One team went to the community centre to collect temporary fencing which has been loaned to us for the open days. Towards the end of the day this was erected around the trench ends / tunnels and around the furnace area to minimize the risk of accidents.
Another team carried on exposing the brick floor on the upstream end of the building which produced some finds including a bone, pieces of zinc plate and other pieces of metal.
On Saturday one of the metal plates opposite the wheel was lifted and glass was found in the soil underneath, so both sides were dug out today and many pieces of glass were discovered including the tops and bottom of large jars. Also found was material believed to be Coprolite, which is fossilised animal droppings, possibly from dinosaurs, this has been taken for identification by an expert. Many bone fragments, a piece of pottery and various metal pieces were also found here. The areas were filled in again and tidied up ready for the guided tours. The elevator was cleaned up and its pit cleared out after being removed on Saturday, the lead strips found underneath were recorded.
The capacity of the paddle buckets on the water wheel were measured by filling one up with a 3 gallon bucket. Each half takes 25 gallons, these are two abreast and 3 sections would be full at any time giving 150 gallons of water. This equates to 682 litres so there is a weight of 682kg turning the wheel.
A team went to the blacksmith area with a metal detector and found a large metal angle bracket with nails, then the building area was scanned and many finds were uncovered including the corner of a machine foot, tie bar, bracket with threaded end, round bar with hooked end, an eye nail, several nails and other metal pieces.
A large group of ramblers walked past on the opposite bank who stopped and read the sign and were asking about how we would get the wheel turning and taking an interest in the work.
Finally polythene sheets were tidied up and the ladder to the wheel pit was removed, the bridge over the trench was taken away, and we checked that the wheel was still chocked to make the site safe for the open days. A lock has been fitted to the large container which enables us to make better use of it. See the Finds Log for more pictures.
Graham Bartlett Interactive Plan Volunteer Previous Next
