Chronology
Blue Boy Yard
Tyler Hill
Greyfriars
Saturday 26 August
Sunday 27 August
Monday 28 August
Saturday 26 August
Trench 1
Trench 1 is situated over the cloisters of the church.
10am
Opened up.
11am
Top of wall uncovered, possible first sighting of the Friary.
12.20pm
Sheets of polythene are unearthed, coverings from the 1970s Louise Millard excavations. When Millard finished her dig, she covered the walls with polythene before filling the earth back in.
Trench 2
Trench 2 is situated over the chancel of the Friar's church. The trench is divided by a wall and split into two parts: Trench 2a – south of the wall, Trench 2b – north of the wall.
10.30am
Opened up.
11.30am
A bone handle to a knife is found in Trench 2b, probably dated around the 15th/16th century.
12.30am
A coin is found in Trench 2b, given a provisional date of the 15th century.
2pm
Two structural supports made of brick from a late 19th century, early 20th century forcing house (greenhouse) are uncovered.
Trench Three
1pm
The archaeologists begin debating where to start a third trench.
^top
Sunday 27 August
Trench 1
9.15am
Extended trench by 1m so that the wall on the other side of the cloister can be uncovered.
10.15am
Carved stone window mullion found.
11am
Cleared out Millard's excavation to reveal an earlier beaten chalk floor.
12 noon
Permission granted to remove soil that Millard never excavated on the site of the tile floor which might reveal a possible cloister passage.
Trench 2
9.30am
In Trench 2b, two pits are uncovered containing tiles, Mark Horton, the tile specialist from Tyler Hill, suggested that the tiles have been produced locally, possibly Tyler Hill and are dated circa 15th century.
10am
Uncovered possible chancel wall.
10.15am
Trench 2a, the diggers have removed, photographed and recorded the greenhouse so that they can continue digging down to medieval layer.
2.30pm
A substantial wall in the same line as the modern brick wall dividing the trench, possibly the north wall of the chancel.
4pm
Two rubbish pits uncovered full of medieval tiles.
7pm
Began a slot down one side of the trench beginning to go down through preparetory level.
Trench Three
10.30am
Tiles unearthed last night are identified as being identical to those from Tyler Hill and dated circa 13th century.
12 noon
Dug out the remaining fill that Millard had put in.
12.15pm
Tile unearthed, 13th century with a glazed pattern, possibly from Tyler Hill.
2pm
Started taking out rubble in order to reveal church wall and the rest of the floor cloister.
2.45pm
Doorstep uncovered, possibly from the doorway to the cloister.
4pm
Trench extended and still haven't found south wall of knave, but can still see the same sequence of tile floor that is in Trench 1.
6pm
Great expanse of tile floored revealed.
^top
Trench Four
11.30am
Opened up trench four following geophysics of the island which showed a number of anomalies, the trench is 5m x 2m and may be the site of the first Franciscan friary.
7pm
Still going through post-medieval garden levels.
Trench 5
3.15pm
Trench 5 opened up – 2m x 2m.
5pm
Found more of the 19th century greenhouse including water pipes.
6.30pm
First piece of human bone found, possibly piece of toe or finger.
^top
Monday 28 August
Trench 1
1.10pm
Started to lift floor.
4.30pm
Proved the existence of the inner wall of the cloister.
5pm
Found the original floors of the cloister.
Trench 2
12 noon
More masonry revealed at the bottom of the chancel wall, might be the foundations of the wall.
1pm
Find flint surface and crushed chalk, which are presumed to be part of the external church surface.
2pm
Started getting a crushed chalk floor which maybe relates to the inside of the church.
2.15pm
Traces of a chancel wall revealed itself.
Trench 2a
4pm
Found construction trench for the chancel wall.
Trench 2b
4pm
Cobbled surface revealed, possible friary walkway.
^top
Trench 3
9.30am
Started excavating beaten clay section.
Trench 4
6.45am
Revealed a flint pebble metalling (courtyard surface) with bits of clay, broken chalk, mortar building materials trodden over the surface, this is probably mud from the boots of the people who demolished the Friary at the time of Dissolution.
7.00am
Piece of pottery dating probably to late 15th/early 16th century.
9.00am
Started to reveal first signs of rammed chalk surface underneath the metalling.
2.30pm
Light pebble metalling revealed under chalk layer.
3.30pm
Unearthed a set of dumps of occupation material containing 13th century pot.
Trench 5
11.30am
Found bottom of moulded church pillar.
12 noon
Found church floor level, a lot has been destroyed, but it is possible to see where it was.
12.30pm
Late medieval knife handle found.
6pm
Piece of black burnished ware Roman pot unearthed.
Trench 6
2pm
Opened up trench 1m x 3m, hope to unearth the south wall of the church.
5pm
Fourteenth-century tile came out of south wall of knave.
6pm
Found the line of the south wall knave but discovered that it had been robbed of all of its stone when the area was landscaped.
^top
Blue Boy Yard
Friday 25 August
Saturday 26 August
Sunday 27 August
Monday 28 August
Friday 25 August
6.25pm
The mechanical digger makes its first inroads into the concrete-covered site at Blue Boy Yard. A 5-metre-square trench is to be dug on the site.
Saturday 26 August
12 noon
Mechanical digger halted as first finds – of early 16th-century blue and white glazed pottery – are uncovered.
1pm
The first Roman find at Blue Boy Yard – a pottery sherd.
2.30pm
A piece of 12th-century Tyler Hill pottery is uncovered. It is followed by possibly fifth-century Anglo-Saxon pottery sherds.
4pm
A coin from the reign of King Cunoblinus (Cymbeline), who died in 42 AD, is found in the spoil heap by a metal detectorist.
^top
Sunday 27 August
3.30pm
The results of soil sample tests by soil scientist Dr Richard MacPhail confirm that the Roman temple precinct area was probably used as a cattle corral after the Romans left.
A bone lice comb find, together with large quantities of human hair, sets off the Team on a search for lice in the cesspit refuse. The cesspits in general are yielding a wide variety of finds.
4.20pm
As the finds dry up, the mechanical digger is brought in to clear the final debris from the trench. The non-Roman material is now cleared to prepare for the investigation of the Roman layers tomorrow.
6pm
The Team finds its first lice – in human hair from the cesspits.
^top
Monday 28 August
10am
Excavation of the 18th-century cesspit that has been producing all sorts of finds, including the human hair and lice, is almost complete, revealing the original Roman temple precinct surface.
12 noon
Three post holes and other evidence of a 10th-century cellared building are discovered.
For the remainder of Monday, see Blue Boy Yard Diary – Monday
^top
Tyler Hill
Friday 25 August
Saturday 26 August
Sunday 27 August
Monday 28 August
Saturday 26 August
8.30am
The security guards open the site for the production crew. Everybody prepares equipment before the archaeologists and cameo specialists arrive.
9am
The Time Team diggers arrive, led by Mick-the-Dig Worthington. Regular Time Team digger Ian Powlesland also appears, ready to co-ordinate work with some local Canterbury archaeologists.
9.30am
Deturfing (removing the top layer of grass) commences on the first trench. It's at this stage that features could appear so the diggers follow up deturfing with cleaning back the underlying soil.
9.32am
Everyone discovers that the soil here is like concrete!
11.15
Things are a bit stalled on site as the archaeologists and even the mechanical digger are struggling with the soil conditions. More later ...
13.30
Everyone stops for lunch.
2pm
The situation is reviewed and it's decided to bring in a mini mechanical digger to take off a thin scrape of the topsoil.
2.20pm
The archaeologists jump in and start cleaning back the trench by trowel.
2.25pm
Eureka! A large (approximately 2m-square) kiln is uncovered. Findwashing begins on the mountains of tile that are coming out of the ground.
3.30pm
Troweling of the trench continues so that the Team can check if the kiln has any orbiting features that may relate to the kiln.
4.30pm
A retaining wall is uncovered running at a right angle to the kiln.
5.30pm
The trench is extended by Mick the Dig in an attempt to uncover any kiln-related structures.
^top
Sunday 27 August
8.30am
Everyone is on site ready for the day's work. The rumour is spreading fast that today's afternoon programme could be called off because of the Channel 4 cricket coverage.
8.50am
The mechanical excavators continue to extend the kiln trench in an attempt to discover any kiln-related buildings or workshops.
9.30am
Everyone is informed that the afternoon programme has been pulled from the schedules.
10.10am
Finds from the site continue to mainly consist of tile. Excavation is held up by the planning process, where everything has to be recorded before further work can take place.
11.25am
Geophysics spot some interesting anomalies further down the hill. The reconstruction kiln is still firing away after some 17 hours.
12 noon
The trench is being sprayed with water to try to identify features. Mick the Dig is positive about how things are going.
1pm
Lunch is called by Mick the Dig while the planning carries on.
2pm
Finally the planning is completed. A Land Rover is driven up to the trench and used as a platform for site photography.
2.30pm
After the geophysics anomalies from this morning, Trench 2 is opened at Tyler Hill to try and find out what they are.
3pm
Mick the Dig has decided to put a section line across Trench 1.
3.30pm
Weight bags are needed to consolidate the sides of the kiln.
4pm
Level readings are taken from the trenches as part of the recording process. Excavation of the kiln in Trench 1 is getting deeper and a single piece of floor tile has been discovered amongst the roof tiles.
5pm
Most of the crew are busy preparing for the live broadcast in a few hours' time. Rehearsals are going well, but we have been informed that our evening broadcast is going to be just half an hour because of the cricket coverage.
6pm
The kiln excavation is going well with lots more tile being dug out by hand. The reconstruction kiln is still firing away after nearly 24 hours.
^top
Monday 28 August
8am
'Everyone was on site early because it's today that the archaeomag dating is being done,' says Mick the Dig. 'It takes about an hour to set it up so we had to get in early.'
9.30am
Ian Powlesland in Trench 2 is getting to the end of what has turned out to be a dump of broken (waster) tiles.
10.30am
Very fine features have been identified in trench 1, so Mick the Dig decides to plan and photograph the whole area in detail.
11am
Trench 2 is finished and Ian Powesland joins Mick the Dig in Trench 1.
12 noon
One hour to the live programme. Work is progressing well and the kiln base discovered yesterday evening is cleaning up nicely.
12.45pm
The first picture of the inside of the fire chamber is taken, the first time anybody has seen it for hundreds of years.
1pm
Live on television all the timing counts freeze on Tyler Hill. This means that nobody knows how long we need to be on air. Sandi, professional as ever, carries on and pulls the scenes together.
2pm
Stop for lunch.
3pm
Geophysics pick up another anomaly that could represent a workshop associated with the kiln.
3.40pm
Excavation is running at full speed. Mick the Dig and his team start to take out the front of the kiln. This is to try and find the location of the last fire used to make tiles.
5pm
A reconstruction of the kiln fire hole arch is started. Mick the Dig and Ian Powlesland finally hit the burnt soil context of the kiln's last fire.
6pm
Trench 3 has offered up some nice pottery that could indicate the presence of a structure or some form of occupation layer in the stratigraphy.
8.30pm
After a great ending programme, and a range of finishing off jobs done on site, that's it! Another Time Team Live over. Everyone has enjoyed themselves and all agree that we have seen some fantastic archaeology.