Southwell Community Archaeology Group
Chairman’s Report 2014
The year has overall been a good one for the group and we stand ready for the challenges and enjoyment that lie
ahead in 2015. We have 52 paid up members, a large proportion of whom have been actively involved, and our
talks have been attended by many non-members.
I thank the officers and the committee for their work and in particular to Ellis Morgan who has carried out a huge
amount of work in the preparation of the ‘Burgage Manor Revealed Project’ bid. I thank also Matt Beresford
MBArchaeology for delivering the Final [Interim] Report of the ‘All Our Stories Burgage Project’. The report brings
together the work of the Archival Group led by Ellis Morgan, the Fieldwork led by Matt Beresford and the
Specialist Pottery Report of Jane Young. I am grateful for the work that those leading the project put into it. Matt
has decided not to continue to work with the group and I thank him for his support in the past.
The main thrust of practical activity for the year has been on the ‘Early Fabric of Southwell Project’. By any
standard the project for the group has been a success. New skills have been learnt and history made with the
identification of the oldest residential property in Southwell. Chris King’s talk was enjoyed & appreciated by the
wider community and we look forward to the publication of the booklet. The building survey work continues and
members interested in taking part should contact Dave Johnson.
The small finds workshops with Jane Young and colleagues have been a great success and it is the intention to
continue with them.
Whilst the application made in December 2013 to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant for a new Burgage project
was not successful it has been a very useful springboard for a much bigger and ambitious two year project. The
project team led by Ellis Morgan has undertaken a huge amount of work in the last few months to get the bid
ready and the application to the HLF for the ‘Burgage Manor Revealed Project’ was submitted in December 2014.
The project, if the application is successful, will be led by Trent & Peak Archaeology with input from our own Alan
Morris for the geophysics and Jane Young for the pottery.
The ‘Digital App Project’ of the Burgage and the House of Correction led by De Montfort University is taking shape
and the launch is scheduled for the Spring [amended]. Once the structure of the App and the associated web site
is finalised there will be opportunity for members to populate it with resource material including video, audio,
image and PDF.
I have represented the Group in April at a Living Knowledge Conference in Copenhagen and more locally at a
Connected Communities Workshop in December in Leicester. The reason for this continuing engagement is that I
believe we must continue to develop strong and enduring relationships with our universities.
Looking forward it is my hope that we will become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation [CIO]. Our present
constitutional arrangements as a ‘members group’ are very weak and in particular there is individual liability for
members – this is not the case with a CIO. With the new arrangements we will be much better placed in the
longer term in respect of funding and stature as a developing organisation
Finally and above all I hope that members will continue to support the group and enjoy taking part in the
activities. There is a rich archaeological landscape to discover out there and we are well placed to be at the heart
of it.
John R Lock
Chairman
6th January 2015