ESAMP services and educational work 2006
ESAMP has been providing heritage and environmental training since
1984. Alongside this ESAMP also runs a diverse public archaeological
education programme. During 2006 ESAMP built on this existing work
and developed new key opportunities for local people to participate
and work in their local cultural and environmental heritage.
ESAMP - Training and Educational Programme 2006
Training and voluntary work
During 2006 ESAMP provided thirty high quality training and volunteer
placements for local people who were not in work. These training
placements were run in partnership with the Countryside Management
Group of the County Council, The Sussex Archaeological Society and
the Brighton and Hove Museums Service. The volunteer opportunities
were part financed by the European Union under a new transnational
partnership programme which ESAMP has developed with a French
archaeological organization – ASNAPIO. This two year programme is
designed to help the general public in East Sussex and Nord Pas de
Calais have better access and enhanced understanding of their
cultural heritage. It will also support ESAMP’s professional development
as a cultural heritage training and educational organization and it will
support our work supporting local people who want to work in the fields
of archaeology and museums.
During 2006 over 75% of the people who participated in the training
and voluntary work moved into employment at the end of their time
with ESAMP.
Schools’ education programme
During 2006 ESAMP has offered a rich and diverse public and schools
education programme. There were three major strands to ESAMP’s
schools work in 2006. In January to March ESAMP worked in partnership
with Brighton Museum on an exciting outreach partnership. This
involved taking a range of local Saxon grave goods and skeletal
material into local schools and enabling the children to have a high
level of direct access to this material. They were encouraged to
investigate and interpret the material in a wide variety of ways. This
work complemented ESAMP’s existing archaeological outreach
programme which we offered to a number of schools. We also carried
out two major reconstruction building projects with schools in
Moulsecoomb and Polegate. These projects involved simulated
excavations, the building of reconstruction Iron age roundhouses and
a rich supporting programme of craft activities. The buildings are long
term educational resources for the schools and ESAMP aims to work
with the schools to develop further historical learning programmes and
events.
Public education programme
2006 was very exciting year for ESAMP in the range and nature of the
public education events which we organized and participated in. This
ranged from building a Saxon house in the Museum of London to
designing and running a brand new ancient technologies course for
Sussex University. During 2006 ESAMP worked with over 20 000 members
of the public as part of its events programme.
Details of the schools and public education programme are given on
the following pages.
Late Saxon Building constructed in the new Medieval Gallery
of the Museum of London
Location: Museum of London
Date: April 2006
Participants: General Public and two local schools
ESAMP has a long standing relationship with the Museum of London
and has successfully carried out commissions for the museum on a
number of occasions. ESAMP worked alongside specialists from the
museum to reconstruct a late Saxon building in the new Medieval
galleries which have recently opened at the museum. ESAMP was
responsible for the design and construction of the roof, the daubing of
the building and the running of a public participation education
programme. This programme involved many local school children in
the building programme and significant public access work. This
commission gave very positive exposure to ESAMP’s work in a nationally
known museum.
May Day Celtic Festival
Location: Michelham Priory
Date: 30th April & 1st May 2006
Participants: General Public / family groups
This is an annually held, two day public event located at ESAMP’s Iron
Age Activity centre at Michelham Priory. The event is designed to show
people (through a series of engaging practical activities) what life
might have been like for people living in the Iron Age in Sussex. This
event was initially designed and set up by ESAMP and has been run
every year for the last fifteen years in partnership with the Sussex
Archaeological Society. On average two thousand five hundred
people attend the event each year.
Shinewater Bronze Age Event
Location: Shinewater Park
Date: 7th May
Participants: General public /family groups
Shinewater Park in Eastbourne contains one of the most exciting
archaeological wetland sites anywhere in Britain. Simon Hickmott,
Environment Group Manager coordinated an environmentally themed
event on the site over the weekend of the 7t May. ESAMP supported
this through a series of workshop which illuminated the archaeological
and paleo-environmental story told by the waterlogged Bronze Age
remains found on the site. ESAMP’s activities were designed to allow
public engagement with their local archaeological heritage. A
significant factor relating to this very popular event was that the public
audience primarily consisted of local families, many of whom might not
ordinarily attend heritage or environmental events. Again a very strong
element was how positive this audience was in relation to the fact that
their locality was home to such a significant archaeological site. It is
likely that this work will be built on in the future.
Brighton Museum Family Archaeology and Schools Outreach
Programme
Location: Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
Date: February – March and Museum open day May 20th
Participants: General Public/family groups. (The whole project involved
three local schools and over 700 children.)
During 2006 ESAMP was commissioned by Brighton Museum to take
some of the wonderful archaeological collections held by the museum
out into the local community over a six month period. This involved
ESAMP in working with a number of local schools in Brighton and
Eastbourne. ESAMP was given unique access to Saxon artifacts which
we then took out into the local community. The educational
programme also involved a family event organized in partnership with
Brighton Museum, The Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society and
ESAMP. This family centered day allowed people to examine Saxon,
prehistoric and Roman material through a series of fun stimulating
workshops held in the museum. The event was attended by several
hundred people.
Archaeology Family Days
Location: Lewes Castle & Anne of Cleves House Museum
Dates: 16th July, 22nd August, 24th & 26th October 2006
Participants: General Public /family groups
As part of its partnership with the Sussex Archaeological Society ESAMP
has run four family events with archaeological themes at Lewes castle
and Anne of Cleves House Museum. These wonderful historical settings
provided an excellent backdrop for the archaeological education
workshops which ESAMP runs.
Ancient Crafts & Technologies Summer school – for the
University of Sussex
Location: Michelham Priory
Date: 25th-29th July 2006
Participants: 15 students from CCE
This is an ESAMP course run in partnership with the Sussex
Archaeological Society and the Centre for Continuing Education at
Sussex University. It is held at Michelham Priory and attracts people from
across the UK. Participants are taught a very wide range of ancient
crafts by ESAMP staff and trainees. The course is recognized as being
unique nationally in its scope and quality. This is the fifteenth year which
the course has been offered. This course has been running for 15 years.
Polegate Iron Age Roundhouse Project
Location: Polegate School
Date: July 2006
Participants: Students & Staff
ESAMP is always particularly keen to work with local school on long
term educational projects. During July 2006 ESAMP spent two weeks
working with almost four hundred children from Polegate School, on
the construction of an Iron Age house. The building is a long term
educational resource for the school. The building work, which involved
children at all stages, was complimented by an excavation and object
recording programme and a very diverse range of related craft
activity workshops.
Woodfair
Location: Bentley wildfowl & Motor Museum
Date: 15th-17th September 2006
Participants: General Public/family groups (over 10,000 visitors)
ESAMP has had a continual presence at Woodfair for the last ten years.
Woodfair is one of the largest environmentally themed events of its
type in the UK. ESAMP presents a variety of demonstrations and
activities over the three days. Our work and reconstructed buildings are
designed to show people the rich tradition of early building types in
Britain and to allow the public to explore the rich tapestry of everyday
skills, knowledge and crafts which were commonplace in the past. This
year’s Woodfair was the largest ever and ESAMP ran a very wide range
of workshops and displays for school groups and families.
Ancient Crafts and Early Buildings Course
Location: Bentley Wildfowl & Motor Museum
Date: 24th-28th July
Participants: 15 students through CCE
ESAMP is always seeking to develop new courses and learning
opportunities. ESAMP set up and ran a brand new course for Sussex
University this year. The course was held at the ESAMP site at the
Bentley Museum this September. The week long course involved
students in an Iron smelt based on local Roman evidence and the
reconstruction of a Bronze Age house. The course involved ESAMP in
developing new and innovative teaching frameworks. The course was
very well received by the students and will be run again next year.
Pumphouse Museum Saxon Building.
Location: Pumphouse Museum, London
Date: October 2006
Participants: 5 local schools & community groups
ESAMP worked in partnership with the Pumphouse Museum in
Rotherhithe, London, to develop a reconstruction project at the
Museum. The museum is set in a nature reserve and the Museum
Manager Caroline Marais heads up an education programme which is
offered to many thousands of local schoolchildren every year. ESAMP
worked in partnership with the Museum and five local schools and a
number of community groups to build a Saxon craft building in the
grounds of the nature reserve. The building is a permanent resource for
the museum and the local community.
Hove Museum Interactive Archaeological Gallery.
Location: Hove Museum
Date: October 2006
Participants: General Public
ESAMP was commissioned by Brighton Museum to help design and
build an interactive archaeological gallery which opened at the end
of October 2006. The gallery is designed to show the work of the
Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society and how archaeologists
discover, record and interpret archaeological sites. The exhibition will
run for six months.
Moulsecoomb School Iron Age Roundhouse
Location: Moulsecoomb School, Brighton
Date: November 2006
Participants: Students & Staff
In November ESAMP worked with three hundred children and the staff
from Moulsecoomb school to build a reconstruction Iron Age
roundhouse. This project ran for two weeks and involved not only all the
children in the school but also a number of family and community
groups. The building will be a long term resource for the school and the
local community.