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Beryl Lott
County Archaeologist.
Beryl ensures that the County Council sticks to
its legal responsibilities with regards to Scheduled Monument and Listed
Building legislation; her support and advice throughout the project has
been invaluable.
Best moment - Seeing the incredible enjoyment and interest from all
the volunteers during the community volunteer part of the nine month
excavation for the Magna Carta Vault. This went through the Victorian
period to the Roman levels, some volunteered to dig, others to clean
and process the artefacts.
Worst moment - The abortive first attempt to get the stone coffin out of
the excavation when it was realised that there was a large crack which
started to come apart. The archaeologists and Woodheads got their
heads together to devise a different method of extracting it from its very
small, very deep hole.
Cecily Spall
Field Archaeology Specialist.
Cecily was the first to discover the
sarcophagus.
Best moment - This has been a project unusually rich in special
moments. It was always going to be the case that the archaeology
of the Castle and its standing structures would be some of the most
rewarding we'd encountered as a team and we were privileged to be
granted permission. What followed were innumerate highs: the lost
Saxon church with its burials and the sarcophagus, the evidence of
Royal feasting quite literally with bells and whistles...and dice and the
last flourish of a Roman townhouse! These were nationally important
stories being told, new histories being written. More important
though were the volunteer archaeologists who we welcomed onto the
excavation and into the finds room who could share these moments
with us. Finding the sarcophagus was an amazing moment, but better
still was the awe and shining excitement on the faces of volunteers
who don't normally get to experience these discoveries first hand.
These aren't `highs', but gold dust. We also saw new friendships and
connections being made all the time within our team, the volunteers
and other people working on the project.
Low moments - Lows were very few, the nadir was undoubtedly the
evening we realised we wouldn't be ready for the TV crews to film
the opening of the sarcophagus burial the next day. We sloped off
to bed with our tails between our legs, only to succeed a few days
later. We were constantly disappointed by the weather in the opening
months being whipped by the Lincoln imp and getting covered in snow,
and all the while we were essentially dealing with Victorian sewers!
Then the sun came out...for months...and we were baked. Like true
archaeologists we wished it was cool, overcast and maybe even a little
bit damp. Thank you Lincoln Castle for the highs and lows!
Ken Howard and Duncan Green
William G Dick Partnership.
Ken and Duncan are the quantity
surveyors for respectively the walls and the prison complex.
Ken
- My abiding memory will be that after a year or so of working on
the scheme to be told that the Court was no longer available, and then
our change to Plan B, and having to do the same amount of work in
less than 6 months. As a team, to deliver this was quite an achievement
I think. Having an understanding client also helped!
Duncan
- The discovery of bats in the rear range basement certainly
put pressure on the programme. The best moments have been the
collective enthusiasm for the project and the can do attitude to
overcome the various issues that have arisen.
Cecily Spall
Beryl Lott
Ken Howard
Duncan Green