Archaeological dig in pub garden hailed 'huge success' as Roman remains found
An archaeologist has praised a publicly accessible archaeological dig as a "huge success."
The Rose & Crown pub in St Albans, currently undergoing redevelopment, opened its excavation site to the public from Friday to Monday.
Volunteers from St Albans Museums unearthed medieval and Roman pottery during the dig, which visitors could examine closely on-site.
The news comes after sinkhole in York opened up revealing the site of a former Roman legionary fortress.
Archaeologist Tom Lucas remarked:
"It's just given people a chance to see it happening and to understand the planning process and then the excavation process- it's the museum's mission to share this with everybody, I think it's been a huge success."
Lucas highlighted that some of the Roman artefacts found, including pottery, tesserae, and painted wall plaster, were previously undiscovered in that area of the city, reports the Express.
A handling table was set up at the dig for visitors to view materials freshly excavated.
Children had the opportunity to learn about washing unearthed pottery fragments.
The four-day event attracted approximately 2,400 visitors.
This excavation was a collaborative effort involving drp archaeology, Minerva Archaeology Ltd, Verulamium Museum, with additional input from Place Services and Historic England.
Minerva Archaeology is set to pen a detailed report on their recent discoveries.
This will play a crucial role in the upcoming planning deliberations.
Mr Lucas shared his insights:
"Planning archaeology is not usually seen in this way, it's not hidden, it's just usually on construction sites. People don't really see it going on, but it's happening all around us all the time because it's enshrined in our planning policy. So it's good that it's been seen and everybody enjoyed it."
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