Blue Flower

7 people were working today, we started by filling more sandbags ready for covering the pier but as weekend work on the timber arch was due to take place we left the sandbags in a pile as they would be in the way of this work. We put a plank bridge across from the wall to the pier to give easy access for the weekend work and we made use of this to reach the scaffolding and remove weeds which were tangled up in the poles and then to cross the river to try out a new tool to remove weeds from the river. The tool is a double sided rake on a long rope, thrown into the weeds then hauled back, the theory being to bring the weeds with it. Unfortunately it did not work well so we used the crome instead which was tricky as the bank is steeper the other side, so this section is still full of weeds.

The brick floor area investigated last week was opened up again and the round feature with a notch was fully exposed and found to be a metal plate on concrete base, this was photographed and recorded then put back and the brick floor re-instated. It was noted that a large washer previously found on site had a similar size and profile to this plate. Nearby the wooden areas were dug out and two large metal angle brackets were found in situ still attached to wood with large bolts with nuts. These appear to connect to other wooden features so next week we may dig to see if there are more angle brackets at the other end.

The brick floor at the north end of the building was dug at the edge and it was found to be 5 courses of bricks deep. We believe this must be a machinery base, as the building’s walls have fairly shallow foundations. Finds from this area were two pieces of lead and a piece of sheet metal with a hole.

David showed us a ‘Wheel of fortune’ that shows the stages which bones go through starting with being unloaded from barges, ground by the stones and finally loaded back onto barges as bagged fertilizer.

Material thought to be bone meal was found at the upstream edge of the hammer mill base running down into the main trench, and a sample has been taken which will be sent for analysis.

At the blacksmith area a wooden post was noticed in the water and weeds were cleared away to try and find out what is in the area just upstream from the upper staunch. There is a large stone near the river, almost certainly part of the lock gates.

At The Maltings we viewed the wooden beams for the arch over the river which will be fitted soon, these have been cut and shaped with mortise joints ready to fit over the sluice. 

Graham Bartlett     Interactive Plan            Volunteer       Previous      Next       

  • 01DSCF0280
  • 02DSCF0285
  • 03DSCF0286
  • 04DSCF0288
  • 05DSCF0317
  • 06DSCF0298
  • 07DSCF0306
  • 07DSCF0348
  • 08DSCF0355
  • 09DSCF0301
  • 10DSCF0304
  • 11DSCF0320
  • 12DSCF0322
  • 13DSCF0294
  • 14DSCF0326
  • 15DSCF0372
  • 16IMGP0037
  • 17IMGP0035
  • 18DSCF0345
  • 19scan0050
  • 20IMGP0044
  • 21IMGP0045
  • 22IMGP0047
    Previous      Next