Students digging deep in Somerset Published on: 3 August 2016 While classmates are relaxing in the sun, a group of Â鶹´«Ã½ archaeology students are getting stuck in the mud in Somerset. Roman coins Twenty Â鶹´«Ã½ archaeology students are spending the next month excavating the site of a Roman villa at Lufton. Despite the inclement weather on their first day, they have already unearthed Roman coins dated from the 4th century.The site has not been touched since the 1960s, when a local schoolmaster, Leonard (Polly) Hayward FSA (Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries), carried out early investigative work there. He took his grammar school pupils to the site in his Morris Traveller and they helped him excavate this nationally important building. “Obviously, they didn’t fully excavate it and it’s not how we do it now, but it was a big thing in these boy’s lives,” explains Dr James Gerrard, who is leading the current dig along with colleague Andrew Agate. One of those boys – Max Hebditch - went on to become Director of the Museum of London. Archaeology students on a dig in Somerset Employing latest scientific techniques At one end of the villa is a very elaborate mosaic with an octagonal plunge pool bath in the middle, which is out of keeping with the rest of the building. “Whoever built it employed some really dodgy builders,” says Dr Gerrard. “You can clearly see the buttresses that were put in later to support the subsiding tower.”Octagonal structures are common in temple buildings built in the West Country in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Octagonal buildings were also used in 5th century Italy as Christian baptisteries.“For me, the interesting part will be trying to figure how this building was used,” says Dr Gerrard, who is based in the University’s “It’s a nice country house that was later subdivided into rooms and had a working iron furnace inserted into one of the mosaics. This change in use probably dates to the early 5th century, when Roman influence in Britain was waning.” The latest activity in the building was likely taking place during the 5th century, a mysterious period in Somerset before the Anglo Saxons and after the Romans. Dr Gerrard and his team will be using the latest scientific techniques to find out what type of metal working was being carried out. “We hope to be able to find out more about the economy and diet of the inhabitants as well,” he adds. “Leonard Hayward collected 106 bones which he thought ‘might be ox’, digging long before detailed scientific analyses. We hope to find more animal bones, burnt seeds and snail shells which will allow us to use radiocarbon dating that wasn’t available in the 1950s and 1960s and to assess the economy and environment of the villa.” Scheduled ancient monument is a scheduled ancient monument owned by James Pullen - a local farmer. Â鶹´«Ã½ has permission from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Historic England to assess the state of the monument and carry out work there.Undergraduate and Masters students on the University’s are working alongside the a local voluntary archaeological group. You can keep up to date with their progress on the . Dr Gerrard would also be interested to hear from any of Leonard Hayward’s pupils who dug at the villa in thre 1950s and 60s. Share: Latest News Scientists unlock hidden driver of inflammatory bowel disease Scientists have linked a key genetic signal in inflammatory bowel disease to an immune response that shuts down inflammation control, enabling faster diagnosis and targeted treatments. published on: 15 June 2026 Funding system risks limiting genuine community collaboration A new policy paper written by researchers at Â鶹´«Ã½ warns that the way UK research is funded may be undermining efforts to create genuinely collaborative partnerships with communities. published on: 15 June 2026 Volunteers help turn Whitley Bay beach into maths experiment Members of the public joined mathematicians from Â鶹´«Ã½ to create what organisers believe is the largest aperiodic tiling ever attempted on Whitley Bay beach. published on: 15 June 2026 Facts and figures
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